What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5
by Lord PotterXXVII
Summary: Elizabeth's adventures continue in the wake of Lord Voldemorts resurrection, new dangers loom over the horizon as the wizarding world prepares for war and the dark lord eagerly plans to resume his dark designs. Rating now upped for safety.
1. Chapter 1

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: Contrary to my earlier plans, I decided to begin writing the next instalment of Elizabeth's adventures now and leave my marriage contract scenario on hold for the time being due to a lack of real interest and a wider audience who would probably appreciate this work being moved forward. Now, Order of the Phoenix, probably one of the more gripping of the original books and certainly for the plot, one of the most important. But as my tales have already deviated from canon to the point it's only just visible with a telescope, this will probably be the hardest instalment yet to write my own take on._

Chapter 1: Dragons, Politics and Negotiating for Dummies

Never before had Elizabeth Potter felt as nervous as she did that morning and she was not usually a woman who felt irrational fear. Because for well over 13 years, adversity had been a daily occurrence that she had been forced to meet and prevail against time and again. Ever since that day almost fourteen years ago when a simple twist of fate had unknowingly chosen her for one of the most dangerous paths imaginable. A path that had forced her to fight terrible monsters, survive neglectful relatives and corrupt politicians, endure spiteful classmates and most terribly of all, the scheming machinations of a mad tyrant hell bent on world domination who had been doing his utmost to kill her. A monster who had been bent on vengeance since that fateful Halloween night in 1981 when he had entered the Potter residence intending to slay her and her parents to prevent a prophecy foretelling his demise from coming true, only for his own deadly curse to backfire when it touched the baby girl and reduced him to a wraith, causing the most feared dark lord of recent times to flee to the forests of Albania.

But after an exile lasting thirteen years during which he had crossed Elizabeth's path on three separate occasions, he had returned and was now out in the world, somewhere. The remnants of his armies eager to continue to serve him and achieve his dark designs. However, that was not what was causing Elizabeth's distress as she thought of what had happened leading her to this moment and set about preparing herself for the day that lay ahead of her. For during the last term at Hogwarts Elizabeth had been entered into the Triwizard tournament, a dangerous competition between the three greatest wizarding schools as part of a plot to kidnap her by the dark lord. However during the first task, history had been made when Elizabeth had attempted to use some of her latent gifts as a phoenix animagus to pacify an angry mother dragon and retrieve a false egg that had been planted in its nest, only for the dragon to speak perfect English and reveal that the dragons were a sentient race.

Which had led her to that morning as she sat in a tent, just outside the border of the dragon preserve in Romania, where she had come as part of the official delegation sent by the International Confederation of Wizards which had been sent to negotiate on a bill of rights and a non-aggression pact with the dragons. Elizabeth heard somebody enter the charmed space of the magical tent and looked up to see her godmother, Amelia Bones, the British Minister of Magic enter alongside her godfather, Sirius Black, as well as Ron's brother Charlie and her godbrother Richard.

'Are you ready Princess?' asked Sirius.

Elizabeth smiled weakly and nodded as Amelia came over to her and said, 'time to go Lizzie dear, how are you?'

'Scared,' was all she could reply as Sirius came up and hugged her.

'I don't blame you, none of us do, this isn't exactly the most orthodox way to begin a diplomatic posting, you would have to be the first witch to actually negotiate with dragons in recent memory and the only reason that they agreed to this in the first place is because of you. But you should see it as an honour that they respect you enough to choose you to represent the humans.'

Elizabeth thought back to the day she had heard of what was to take place.

_Elizabeth was sitting in the small dining room one evening at the Boneyard a few days after their return from Hogwarts with Susan and Richard when Amelia walked in._

'_Lizzie, I have good news, remember on the day of the first task, how I said that we would need to negotiate a bill of rights for the dragons and that they would most likely want you there as a part of the negotiations?'_

_Elizabeth swallowed nervously, 'yes, I'm not going to forget that day in a hurry.'_

_Amelia smiled, 'the reason why it's been delayed is because when I told the ICW what had happened, all the member countries eventually insisted on sending delegates in order to bring about an international treaty and if you think the wizenagmot is bad, getting counties to agree on a single course of action to be written in a treaty is harder than herding cats. Anyway, the summit's been set in a fortnight's time and the dragons have chosen the reserve in Romania for the meeting, they're insisting on you acting as the speaker for the human delegates.'_

_Susan and Richard were astonished and Susan asked, 'why Lizzie?'_

'_Because in their eyes, she's a dragon and therefore the only mage they'll trust….'_

_Elizabeth looked at Richard and Susan and asked. 'What about Richard and Susan? Are they coming too?'_

_Amelia smiled at her niece before facing Elizabeth, 'Susan's visa has arrived from the Stormhold embassy, so she gets an equally important job of being the first British national to visit the country since before the first war, and will have the task of helping to build a good relationship with the royal family. But Richard is perfectly welcome to attend the summit as all of the ICW delegates usually bring entourages to meetings such as this.'_

Returning to the present, Elizabeth paid attention as Charlie addressed the room.

'We should probably get moving, the other delegates are here and the dragons can get edgy around this many humans close to their nests.'

Amelia turned to him, 'lead on Mr Weasley.'

So Charlie led the way out of the tent and into the warm morning, summer had proven to be somewhat hotter than usual that year and England had been in the midst of a severe drought when they had departed for Romania three days prior. The continent had felt just as warm when they arrived though the morning was quite a bit cooler this Far East. Charlie began to talk about the reserve as they slowly made their way up through a landscape of steep hills, rocky crags and thick pine forests.

'It's a lovely spot, and you couldn't pick a more out of the way location, that's why the reserve got set up here. We're a long way from any major muggle settlements and the reserve borders a national park. A lot of the local muggles are pretty superstitious and are too scared to come anywhere near here as there used to be some pretty nasty people living around here a few centuries ago, you probably saw a few of the ruined castles on the way in, there's been stories of hauntings and disappearing's ever since then.'

Elizabeth was thoughtful, 'but the real reason for people vanishing was the dragons?'

Charlie shook his head, 'in some cases, yes, but this region is pretty rugged and there's the usual hazards of predatory animals like wolves in the forests. Without the right survival skills, if you get lost out here you're in trouble.'

Richard joked, 'pity Hagrid isn't here, he'd give his right arm to see this place.'

Charlie smiled, 'we invited him, only thing is, Dumbledore put him on a special assignment, can't tell you what it is, it's a secret though if he succeeds, we'll all be a lot safer.'

Elizabeth began to hear noises similar to distant thunder and guessed that they were getting closer as they kept walking through the steep hills. Eventually they reached the top of the hill where they found a huddle of richly dressed witches and wizards all talking amongst themselves.

Professor Dumbledore detached himself from the group and hurried over to them just as Charlie bustled off a short ways further down the path they'd been following where Elizabeth could just make out a clearing and the silhouettes of a number of dragons of varying sizes, shapes and colours.

'Madam Minister, Lord Black, Lord Bones, Lady Potter, welcome to Romania, I trust your journey was pleasant and uneventful?'

Amelia waved his question off, 'no, the journey has been delightful and the local ministry have been gracious hosts, no trouble with the ICW Albus?'

Professor Dumbledore smiled, 'nothing major, there were a few minor issues of protocol to discuss regarding the nature of the negotiations, but once I made clear the long history the Potters have had in serving the ICW and the nature of how the dragons revealed their true nature, they were soon settled. The delegates are ready to proceed as soon as Lady Potter is.'

Elizabeth guessed that the ICW thought her too young, and frankly couldn't blame them, as here she stood, just before one of the most ground-breaking summits in wizarding history preparing to act as a negotiator on behalf of the whole ICW, and yet she was in their eyes just a girl, not even halfway through her teenage years.

Professor Dumbledore faced Elizabeth and began, 'Elizabeth, are you ready to make history? When you are ready, proceed along the path until you reach the clearing where the dragons have gathered their representatives, we will give you a copy of the draft treaty. It contains a lot of complicated legal terms, but basically to summarize it, we will offer the dragon's sanctuary in several reserves similar to this one which are being established worldwide, freedom from any form of exploitation or non-provoked aggression by wizardkind and security from muggles while they are in the sanctuary regions. All we ask in return at the moment is a promise from the dragons not to join Lord Voldemort or attack any wizards or witches unless provoked.'

Elizabeth was curious, 'what about ministerial representation? The goblins and centaurs have offices at the ministry, will the dragons get one?'

Professor Dumbledore replied, 'in time, yes, but owing to the complexities of setting up a whole new ministry department, that will take time and that's just in Britain's case. It could be even longer for full worldwide coverage. For now, you can always offer Charlie Weasleys skills to act as a liaison between them and the ministry of magic.'

'Alright, let's get on with it, there's no point to delay any further,' said Elizabeth.

Professor Dumbledore pushed a complex looking document the size of a small book into her hands.

'Good luck Elizabeth, now we'll be right behind you, but will stay a respectable distance back.'

Trembling slightly, Elizabeth slowly began to walk forwards, following the track that Professor Dumbledore had pointed out which led through more thick trees. The sight that met her gaze as she entered the clearing was one that she swore she would never forget.

'_Oh my goodness, look at them all, I thought four was unbelievable.'_

Ranged around the vast clearing and perched on various rocky crags were at least thirty different dragons of different shapes, some varieties she recognized from the tournament such as Welsh greens, Swedish short snouts and Hungarian horntails, but others were unfamiliar to her including the one that looked to be the largest of all. A massive black dragon that was sitting on its haunches in the middle of the clearing and staring right at her, a look of curiosity on its face.

Elizabeth stopped about twenty metres away from the black dragon that was facing her as it began to speak.

'Valokein goraan gein, nii lost kosaan lingrah tiid ruzun mu lost held grik grind.'

Elizabeth felt some of her nerves disappear as she replied.

'Zu'u nox hi zuwuth fah hin eylok rot do valokein, aal Zu'u laan hi nuft vonum tinvaak. Joor valkralin dreh ni lost tinvaak do dovah.'

The dragon seemed to almost smile if that were possible and Elizabeth inwardly thought.

'_Ok, so far so good.'_

The dragon spoke to her, 'Krosis, though we speak the languages of the joor, seldom would a dov speak in the tones of the jul. Now, before we begin, by tradition, when two dov hold tinvaak the elder speaks first.'

The dragon turned his head towards a large rock that was a short distance away and opened his mouth and quickly engulfed the rock in flame, much to the alarm of the ICW delegates who shuffled about nervously.

Elizabeth listened as she was bade,

'Now, see my thuum, match it and allow me to taste your voice. Be not alarmed, you will not hurt me.'

Elizabeth faced the dragon and shouted, 'YOL TOL SHUL' and saw the blue flames lick the dragon's body much to her shock as it began.

'Grik suleyk, zul tol qaariv fir, aaah yes, to think that one so young could wield such a powerful thuum, you are the dov my brethren claim you to be Fil ah viingaal.'

Elizabeth was amazed, '_A draconic name? Wow!'_

She asked the next question, 'may I ask your name?'

The dragon looked at her and said my name in our tongue is Mul jer tovitaan and now as we have greeted each other as tradition demands the question we ask of you is this. Why have you come here? To this place at this time.'

Elizabeth began, 'The lahzey, the wizards have learned now of the true nature of the dovah and now acknowledge the strength and intelligence of the dov and therefore wish to reach an understanding, a drem krolurend. So that neither lahzey nor dovah need fear each other again. As I am both lahzey and dov, I was asked to act as negotiator.'

The dragons seemed to be mulling over what Elizabeth was saying before Mul jer tovitaan asked her.

'Long have we distrusted the joors as many of them treated us as animals, monsters even. Even when it was only a few of us giving the rest a bad name, so we must ask, Fahvos nu? Why now?'

Elizabeth replied swiftly, 'because war is coming, and coming soon, that Prakem luft nikriin by the name of Tom Riddle has returned and once again seeks to cover the land in darkness. If he succeeds, all life as we know it will be snuffed out forever. Faal Wahliik does not wish for this to happen which is why he has sent me as his champion to ensure that the world does not end. Now that the joors have learned of the true strength and power of the dovah, they fear that many will be swayed by Tom's power.'

Mul jer tovitaan looked at her, 'so the joor seek our help? Why should we assist them in a fight that is not ours? Let the joor solve their own problems, you should not be fighting their battles for them either Fil ah viingaal.'

The ICW members seemed to be fidgeting even more as Elizabeth fell silent as she thought of what to say, finally she thought of an answer.

'But you're all a part of this world and Tom will not stop with Britain. In time if none stand against him the entire world will fall and he will never leave you in peace until the day the earth dies. None of the sentient races will be spared from his malice and insatiable lust for power and those who refuse to serve him will be slain or forcibly enslaved. I have met him and I refuse to allow this world to fall just because gein hefahus mey laan nahkaar dahik lein lost volzah wah mok.'

Elizabeth paused and contemplated the looks of the dragons who had all fallen silent before she continued. 'I do not ask for you to fight the battles of the lahzey for them, only for you not to join Tom's side and consider aiding our cause in the future for the sake of all who dwell in this world. Even if you hold the joors in contempt, to let the world fall into ruin for the sake of wounded pride would be a terrible waste. The creator has given us all one last chance to make things right and to waste it would be shear foolishness. If you promise not to join Tom, then the lahzey promise that all dovah shall be left in peace, be given sanctuary from the vonum and in time be given the opportunity to establish full representation in the many regional governments of the lahzey.'

Mul jer tovitaan dropped down so that they were eye to eye and said, 'Very well Fil ah viingaal. Ful Kos nii, you shall have your drem krolurend. Though mortal arrogance has always been our enemy we agree that the world should not fall through wounded pride. As long as you vouch that we shall no longer suffer the arrogance of wizards and their false claims of superiority then we shall have peace, and as long as you vouch that the world will not fall to ineptitude or those who attempt to grovel at the feet of Tom Riddle, we shall have peace.'

Elizabeth wasn't sure how the dragons could possibly sign the treaty and so beckoned for Professor Dumbledore who slowly walked forward. The professor seemed overawed for once but finally said.

'We thank you for listening to what we have had to say and agreeing to our proposition, now to seal our new bond let us sign the treaty and go forth from this place as friends from this day forth.'

Mul jer tovitaan spoke to Dumbledore, 'do not think that we have forgiven all that has taken place in the past, and rest assured mortal, we are watching you and any treachery will be paid for in fire and blood. But as Fil ah viingaal has said, the world should not fall to the wrath of the all father because one fool wanted vengeance because the world was unfair. Also, as the old saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend and if what has been said of the joor who calls himself Lord Voldemort is true then he is a far worse enemy to have. We accept the bargain Fil ah viingaal has proposed and will send word through the crimson joor who is called Charlie if we wish to summon her for any further discussion.'

Elizabeth opened the treaty and watched as Professor Dumbledore took a quill and signed his name at the bottom and watched as the paper flared for a moment and draconic runes appeared which spelled out Mul jer tovitaan. Professor Dumbledore turned to her,

'Elizabeth, you need to sign too, that's procedure. Once you sign, this document becomes international law and copies will be sent with the delegates present to every corner of the globe.'

'_Wow, no wonder they say that the pens mightier than the sword.'_

Taking the quill, Elizabeth dipped it into the ink that Professor Dumbledore provided and signed her name where he had indicated and as she did, the crowd of ICW delegates began cheering and the dragons began to roar, as if they too were applauding.

As they prepared to leave, Mul jer tovitaan spoke to her, 'fare thee well young dov, we shall meet again in time. In time, hopefully you may finally see your efforts rewarded but it will take a long time before we can truly trust the joor races fully. But when you face our enemy in battle once more, do not hesitate, strike him down and use the strength our father has gifted you with to make the world a better place.

'I will,' Elizabeth said as she slowly began to walk away, and was met at the edge of the clearing by an anxious Amelia.

'Oh my dear Lizzie, that was astonishing, never seen anything like it. If I hadn't put you in for the OM last year, I'd put you in for this, that took more bravery than any of those delegates will ever have. But I expect that you've probably won their respect, now come on there's going to be a gala dinner held at the Romanian ministry building tonight so we'd probably be best off to get ready and then pack up our campsite.'

Sirius began speaking as they began the trek back to their tent, 'your grandad would be proud, he was on the ICW himself, and your great grandad was actually the supreme mugwump back in the day.'

Elizabeth smiled and thanked him and after a brisk walk back down through the hills they soon reached their tent where Elizabeth prepared for the party and changed into her dress robes, glad that the auto sizing charm was still working as she had been growing quite quickly lately.

Stepping back into the main room of the tent she was met by Amelia who came up and looked her up and down.

'You're like Susan, both of you seem to have been enchanted to grow at twice the normal rate of other girls your age, so I think we'll have to do some more shopping when we get home.'

Elizabeth voiced something that had been at the back of her mind for a while, 'in my case I think it might be the veela in me, I think veelas grow quickly and then stop aging normally when they reach a certain point. Look at madam Delacour, she doesn't look a day over 30 and she'd surely have to be in her mid 40's. I remember Fleur as well, she was 17 when I met her, but she looked a few years older than that.'

Amelia seemed to agree, 'could be, but you aren't a normal veela, I might write to her though, see if she has anything to say on the topic. But now we've got a party to attend so we'd best find the men and get there.'

After Elizabeth and Amelia located Sirius and Richard and magically packed the tent up and shrunk it. Amelia pulled an old soft drink can out of her handbag and gestured for everyone to gather round, Elizabeth touched a finger to the can with a feeling of apprehension and soon felt the usual jerking sensation as the portkey activated. She landed unsteadily on her feet a few seconds later inside a well-lit domed hall in which the ICW delegates were mingling along with some of the local ministry personnel, all watched over by a team of aurors. An accented voice nearby called for them to have their wands screened and so Elizabeth got in line behind Amelia and watched the security men scan her and her wand before walking up to them after they waved her through.

Elizabeth watched the wizard scan her with the secrecy sensor before he bade her to place her wand in the tray in a repeat of the process she went through just before Fudge's trial.

'Seven inches, phoenix feather, basilisk venom and dragon heartstring and made of unknown wood tipped with a single diamond, been in use 1 year, is that correct?'

Elizabeth replied, 'yes, it was custom made for me by Leonard Ollivander during the Triwizard tournament.'

The wizard waved her through, but wore an awed expression as he impaled the little strip of parchment, the group mingled with the assembled guests for a time, many of them coming over and praising Elizabeth for her efforts, including one wizard from the French delegation that Elizabeth recognized immediately.

'Lady Potter, you performed magnificently today,' praised Monsieur Delacour as he strode over and greeted them all.

'Thank you, I don't think I ever felt so nervous,' replied Elizabeth.

The night proceeded fairly well with a few delegates giving speeches during the course of dinner with most of them seeming fairly positive in their reactions to the treaty. But it was after dessert had been eaten and the guests were sitting around and mingling one of the local aurors came over to her.

'Lady Elizabeth Potter? An owl has just arrived for you.'

Elizabeth was curious, '_Who would send me an owl right now?'_

Another auror came in with an unmistakable owl on his shoulder and Elizabeth was even more curious as the big black owl flew over to her and settled on the table. Elizabeth untied the message from the owl's leg and unfolded it before she gasped in shock as she read the contents.

_My dearest Elizabeth,_

_As I write this letter, our wards have detected an intrusion attempting to breach our defences in the parkland at our estate and in these times that can mean only one thing, death eaters. Great aunt Augusta has gone to alert the aurors and I can only hope they arrive in time. I hope your trip to Romania has been as productive as you had hoped as the last thing we need is for him to gain the services of any dragons. Do not cut your trip short when you receive this letter, what you're doing is far too important to risk in order to save our lives and if today is to be our last, then they will not take us without a fight. If I do die today then I will do so having no regrets for our times together have been the happiest I have ever known._

_I remain ever yours even in the face of death,_

_Fitzwilliam._

Elizabeth clutched a hand to her heart as she gasped, 'no! Not like this.'

Amelia hurried over to her and asked, 'Lizzie, what is it? Whatever is the matter?'

Elizabeth felt tears welling in her eyes, 'The Longbottoms have been attacked by death eaters.'

Those around her were shocked, but Sirius didn't seem too concerned as he gently pulled her close.

'Don't worry Princess, they'll make it, and Tom is an even bigger idiot than we thought. Augusta is dangerous, and cunning, I once saw her blast her way out of a battle wiping out four of them in the process without taking a scratch. Tom sent attacks against Longbottom Park on three separate occasions and failed. They only got Alice and Frank because they weren't there at the time.'

Leaning into his embrace, all she could say was, 'I hope you're right.'

Valokein goraan gein, nii lost kosaan lingrah tiid ruzun mu lost held grik grind: Welcome young one, it has been a long time since we have held such a meeting

Zu'u nox hi zuwuth fah hin eylok rot do valokein, aal Zu'u laan hi nuft vonum tinvaak. Joor valkralin dreh Ni lost tinvaak do dovah: I thank you elder for your kind words of welcome, may I request you use the common speech. The mortal delegates do not have the speech of dragons

Gein hefahus mey laan nahkaar dahik lein lost volzah wah mok: One deluded fool wanted vengeance because the world was unfair to him

Grik suleyk, zul tol qaariv fir: Such power, a voice that deserves respect

Fil ah viingaal: Star hunter winged

Mul jer tovitaan: Strong east seeker

Drem krolurend: Peace agreement

Prakem luft nikriin: Snake faced coward

Ful Kos nii: As you wish

Faal Wahliik: The Creator

Lahzey: Mage

Jul: Human


	2. Chapter 2

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: Over 40 hits and 5 favourites and story alerts in slightly over 24 hours, oh thank you very much, a reception like that, perhaps with a couple of reviews is what we all live for on this site. Please don't kill be about cliff-hangers, they can be necessary at times. _

Chapter 2: Grim Tidings

Elizabeth sat in shock as Amelia hurried over to talk to the Romanian minister for magic who was sitting nearby talking with Professor Dumbledore, and despite Sirius doing his best to comfort her she still felt her heart sink as she gazed at the parchment which held Fitzwilliam's message.

'_I never even had the chance to….'_

A few of the delegates had been gathering around but she vaguely heard Sirius telling them to leave her in peace, but jerked her head up a moment later as Amelia came back and said.

'Right, the Romanian minister is going to let me use his personal secure floo so I can get Rufus on the line sharpish and find out what the hell happened. I know you won't like this Lizzie, but we can't leave here right now as we don't know enough either way to act with any real sense, because for all we know the message could be a trap. Lord Longbottom is not the only wizard who owns a black eagle owl after all and handwriting can be forged. So what I want you to do is to go with Sirius, Anthony and the Romanian aurors who will escort you to our embassy where we should be safe for tonight. I'll join you as will Albus as soon as Rufus lets me know what's happened and I can give him instructions and Albus handles the diplomacy. I'll get a portkey arranged as soon as possible so we should hopefully be able to go back to England tomorrow and if the Longbottoms' are safe I'll take you right to them.'

Elizabeth could only nod meekly as tears still streamed down her cheeks but watched as Amelia strode determinedly towards a side corridor flanked by two British aurors who had come as part of their security detail. A moment later, Sirius whispered to her,

'Come on Princess up you get, we'd better get to the embassy.'

Elizabeth got to her feet and after Sirius had collected Mercury, he took her arm and led her out of the Romanian ministry building, Elizabeth paying little attention to her surroundings or her escort until she heard the British ambassador Anthony Thomas address her.

'Lady Potter, if you would kindly…'

Elizabeth looked up as he indicated for her to get into the dark car that was parked in front of her and she climbed into the back and was soon followed by Sirius, Anthony and two of the local aurors while the others mounted motorbikes that were surrounding the car. The motorcade set off and Elizabeth stayed silent as the car moved through the streets and after a short journey reached the British embassy where she was soon led inside and to the ambassador's office where she sat down in the offered couch.

Anthony came back into the room after a hurried discussion with a house elf and addressed the group.

'Well, you should all be perfectly safe here for now. Thankfully we've yet to hear even a whisper of death eater activity in the region, and since the last war the local dark wizards have tended to congregate in small areas and not prove too much of a problem outside of them. I can only hope that it stays that way at least for the time being.'

Sirius asked one of the questions that had been bothering Elizabeth when he began.

'What I don't understand is, why now? Did they know that Albus and Amy would both be out of the country? It wasn't published that both would be attending and neither was the exact nature of the summit.'

Elizabeth couldn't answer and neither had it seemed could Anthony, but the question she asked the other two was.

'Why the Longbottoms? Why would they be the first target?'

Sirius sighed and said, 'back in the last war, the Longbottoms were a significant thorn in Tom's side, Frank and Alice were both members of the order and actually escaped Tom himself on three separate occasion and on the last one, Frank actually drew blood on him with a well-placed cutter to the face. A real shame your dad and I were busy fighting the Lestrange brothers at the time or we probably could have ended the war that day or at least thrown the buggers into disarray. Augusta, her husband Winston and Anne and Robert, Fitzwilliam's parents all actively fought against him at times and most of the other family members aided the ministry and the order somehow. After all that, any Longbottom would rate fairly high on Tom's list of most hated people. Also, it could be knowledge or artefacts he's after as the Longbottoms' have amassed quite a wealth of old relics and knowledge over the centuries as a lot of them have worked in the ministry or for Gringotts and people who work in certain departments of those places tend to find and learn a lot, and Tom would probably find quite a lot of it very useful to him.

Anthony looked to be agreeing as he had been nodding as Sirius spoke and then said, 'a masterful surmise my lord, but it is strange. The briefing notes I received from the ministry said that several of the high ranking death eaters were killed in the battle at the Little Hangleton churchyard, why would he risk so many of his followers lives on a target he would surely know to be well guarded? I've been to Longbottom Park and from what I know of Lady Augusta, in time of war she would have it well defended.'

Elizabeth wearily spoke up, 'because he's desperate, I wounded him quite badly during that battle and the Daily Prophet threw most of his life story onto the front page for the entire country to read about. He's scared that he'll lose the fear that he spent over fifty years perfecting, so he must think that a major victory would scare the people.'

Sirius squeezed her hand, 'that's right, and he doesn't care at all for the lives of his followers. To him, they're little more than chess pieces on a board, and at stake is the world.'

They were interrupted when the house elf came back in and passed around a tray of tea and biscuits, though to Elizabeth, the cup was little more than something to occupy her hands with as she waited for news, waiting for absolution that seemed to stretch into an eternity….

Amelia Bones was livid as she strode along the deserted corridors of the Romanian ministry building, determined to find out who had dared to cause her goddaughter such distress and make them wish they'd never been born.

'_Miserable rabble, when I get my hands on them I swear I'll…'_

Walking through the door indicated by the Romanian minister, she waited until he had activated the fireplace before leaning into the green flames and opening the connection.

'British ministry of magic, Department of Magical Law Enforcement.'

After a few seconds her old office came into focus and she found the greying form of Rufus Scrimgeour, her successor at the head of the DLME sitting at the very desk she had occupied for almost fifteen years.

'Rufus, Rufus!' she called out to him and saw him look up from the pile of paperwork he was engrossed in.

'Minister! How did you know of the incidents? We only just sent word and our owl would not have had time to reach you.'

Amelia frowned, '_The incident must have happened 2 days ago or so, unless Augusta turned the note that was sent into a portkey to quickly move the owl to Romania.'_

'A note arrived in Romania about twenty minutes ago, sent by Lord Fitzwilliam which was addressed to Lady Elizabeth which explained about the attack, as you can imagine she's worried sick over what might have happened to them. Sirius, Anthony and the others got her to the embassy and the Romanian minister let me use his floo to check in. '

Rufus frowned but then said, 'well I've got good news and I've got bad news minister, the good news is that the attack on the Longbottoms failed, by the time we arrived the death eaters had fled though we did capture one rookie who Augusta had worked over. He's in St Mungoes under guard and we'll dose him to the gills with veritaserum and see what he knows when the medics are done with him. The bad news is that the whole attack was clearly a feint, as we got word a few hours later that there had been another attack up in Northumberland. The Bagshot home had been attacked and there were clear signs of a struggle, Albrecht and his whole family are missing.'

Amelia cussed, 'damn it, he must be planning to force Albrecht to do research for him and wanted Guinevere and their kids as leverage.'

Rufus was solemn, 'that's pretty much what Gawain said when his team got back here for the debriefing. We've put the word out to the usual agencies but I doubt they'll turn up anytime soon and we sent a squad to Longbottom Park to examine the crime scene. Fortunately they didn't breach the house itself and the outbuildings only took minor damage during the firefight.'

Amelia sighed, 'well thank heavens for small mercies Rufus, where are the Longbottoms now? I doubt I'd have the heart to face Elizabeth without telling her where they are.'

Rufus examined a few sheets of parchment before answering, 'Lady Augusta told our response team that she was planning on taking the kids to the Burrow and then try and persuade the Weasleys to move to someplace she called "headquarters".'

Amelia thought for a moment before it clicked, '_Aaah, yes if they headed there then nobody would find them, probably a smart move, I might lock the boneyard down and do the same.'_

Amelia said, 'I know where they've going, I don't know if you've heard this Rufus but Albus has recalled his order. I can't say I'm overly fond of them after what happened to Edgar and Rowena but we need all the help we can get right now, so I can live with it as long as he is prepared to share whatever information he learns with us. But, he's set up a headquarters in London and the house in question has had every security measure known to wizardkind put on it over the years, including a lot of nasty dark wards. Even if Tom finds the place, which is under a Fedelius charm by the way, he'd be there a year at least trying to bring them all down.'

Rufus replied, 'well it looks like they're safe, for now. Apart from those incidents the countries been fairly quiet, no major activity other than a few small incidents of vandalism and routine patrols caught up with them fairly quick. Wannabes had a few too many at the cauldron, dressed up in costumes and started firing hexes randomly in the alley.'

Amelia made a sound of disgust, 'if the real eaters were bad enough, this is almost worse. When they wake up, throw the book at them. I want it made clear just how much we hate people swaggering around at times like this and preying on peoples fear. Good work tonight Rufus, you did the best you could in the circumstances, now I should probably get back and tell Elizabeth that the Longbottoms are still alive.'

'Yes ma'am, tell her from us that whoever got sent had no idea who they were dealing with and that all four of the Longbottoms made them pay for it badly, especially Lady Augusta. From the initial reports we got, what she did to the one she worked over wasn't pretty.'

Amelia extracted her head from the fire and brushed the ash out of her hair and off her shoulders before turning to her Romanian counterpart.

'The attack failed and the Longbottoms were able to fight off the hit squad, unfortunately however there was a kidnapping at the same time, a leading academic was snatched from his home along with his wife and children. I've got people investigating and would be very grateful if you could pass along any information that may reach your governments ears.'

'You can rest assured that we shall, a monster such as Riddle is not fit to walk under the sun's rays and is everyone's problem. Send us the dossiers on the missing people and if any information reaches our borders it shall be passed on. It has been a long night and no doubt your young protégé is desperate for news.'

'Indeed, I had best find Albus and then proceed to the embassy, thank you for your assistance tonight minister, it has saved me considerable time in gaining an understanding of the situation and will undoubtedly allow my charge to rest easier tonight.'

Amelia bade the man farewell and returned to the dining room where she collected Professor Dumbledore and the pair of them made their way towards the front entrance of the ministry building where the motorcade had returned from the embassy and was waiting for them. Once the pair of them had settled into the car and it began moving, the aged wizard asked.

'What news minister?'

Amelia sighed and began to explain the situation to Dumbledore who was looking thoughtful as she spoke and by the end he commented,

'Very interesting, so it would seem that Tom seeks information and Albrecht's expertise but as to what nature of knowledge or research he seeks I cannot say? I know Albrecht was once an unspeakable and that may have a link to why this has happened.'

Amelia took one look at his face and said, 'you know the law Albus, the unspeakables work is classified for a good reason, even I don't know exactly what projects he was working on though I imagine it is probably all in his file if I go look it up. But if Tom wanted him so badly that he planned such an elaborate scheme to snatch him, it can't be good for us that Tom's got him.'

'Minister, if we are to have any hope of winning this war, we must learn to share information.'

Amelia snorted, 'you're one to talk Albus, a lot of the information you've hoarded over the years I only ever learned once Elizabeth basically forced you to reveal it by learning it herself when she faced the incidents at Hogwarts. We could easily have stamped on Riddle like a bug if you'd told people the truth before the first war. Do you have any idea how many lives that would have saved?'

Dumbledore sighed, 'perhaps, but I cannot take back my past actions or inaction, idle speculation will get us nowhere. All I ask is to assist, you know of my expertise and my experience.'

Amelia knew she couldn't lose the support of the man sitting opposite her and so begrudgingly said.

'Alright Albus, you've made your point but your talk of sharing information needs to go both ways, if I find you're sitting on anything relevant and not telling us, you'll regret it. Don't forget that your little club cost me and my family my brother and my sister in law. I know you've recalled the order Albus, and that's fine, I can live with that as long as you are prepared to work with us and not obstruct us. But this isn't a damn chess game with you and Tom holding the pieces, its war, nothing more, nothing less.'

Dumbledore looked regretful and said, 'Edgar and Rowena's deaths were a terrible tragedy but you and I both know that Edgar would never suffer a man like Tom to do what he has done and not stand against him, and neither would Rowena. Their sacrifice saved the lives of many others and allowed their children a chance to know peace. I do not know everything about Tom and the little information I have has taken many years to discover, but I will share what knowledge I have it if it helps, but I still wish to know what motive Tom would have in kidnapping Albrecht and his family.'

'Fine, but I'll have to ask the wizenagmot for a disclosure order on his file, if we explain that it is part of the investigation then it shouldn't be held up for too long. If you apply for ministry investigators licenses for your order, then we can legally grant you the needed security clearance to access the files as well as reserve auror status for your members once the disclosure order has been approved.'

Dumbledore smiled, 'a prudent course of action, I will file the needed forms before the next session of the wizenagmot.'

'Thank you, we're on your side Albus and you really need to understand that this isn't just your war and Tom isn't just your enemy. If Elizabeth's prophecy is true and I have no doubt that it is based on our prior experiences with her gifts, then every single one of us who can raise a wand to defend themselves is going to have to fight, or we shall fall. You've carried the torch for a long time now and you led the efforts that saved us all from Grindelwald, nobodies denying that fact, nor are we denying the legacy that you have built over the years through your many contributions to our society. But now we all need to work together to preserve freedom and all must be prepared to do what they can or risk being swept aside.'

Amelia was relieved to see that Dumbledore seemed to be agreeing with what she said as he began.

'Yes, I cannot deny what you say is true and I certainly do not doubt the veracity of Elizabeth's prophecy, I trust that it has been recorded?'

'Yes, the keeper of the hall of prophecy came to see me the morning she gave it to you, the written documentation that the unspeakables filled out to record its existence has been classified critical and extra wards have been placed around the shelf holding the globe itself. Onto another matter Albus, have you had any luck finding a new defence teacher? These are dangerous times, and the subject is more critical than it has ever been. I don't want to have to do your job for you, but we need that post filled quickly.'

'Thankfully minister that will be unnecessary, for I have found a suitable candidate to take the post, he is a rather unorthodox choice and one that I thought would never choose a teaching career. But he is definitely a wizard who is very skilled in the subject area and most certainly, probably very likeable by his future students. I submitted the appropriate documentation to the board of Governors before I departed England.'

Amelia was about to ask for the identity of the new professor but was interrupted as the car pulled to a stop outside the embassy, one of the Romanian aurors who had been on a motorbike beside the car came and opened the door and the pair got out.

'Goodnight minister, I'm glad we were able to have this conversation, I have no desire to obstruct the ministry's workings nor hoard information. My enemy is and has always been Voldemort and though we may have different methods of operation in regards to our efforts of fighting against him, we both seek the same goal, a better future for the next generation, free of oppression and fear. Now I trust you'll be wanting to take Elizabeth to headquarters when she wakes?'

'Yes Albus, I do, at the very least to reassure her of her friends safety. But thank you, I am not Cornelius and so there is no need to believe that the ministry is hostile to your goals, we share the same desires that you do in building a better world.'

The aged headmaster passed her a slip of parchment which she put into her pocket before he tipped his hat and then turned on his heels and disappeared into thin air with the usual accompanying crack. Amelia turned and walked into the embassy grounds, past the guard house where the sentries checked her wand and made her way into the building itself where she was met by a house elf.

'Minister, the master, Lord Black and Lady Potter are in the masters office, this way please.'

Amelia followed the elf through the silent corridors of the embassy building until she came to a lit up doorway where two more aurors were standing guard outside. The first of them challenged.

'Liberty?'

Amelia was glad that the guards were doing their jobs and answered, 'strength and fellowship.'

The aurors saluted and the second spoke to her.

'The lady fell asleep a little while ago minister, Lord Black and Ambassador Thomas are still inside.'

So Amelia quietly opened the door and entered the room, quickly spotting Elizabeth sleeping on a couch, a blanket covering her while Sirius and Anthony had taken chairs that were facing the door, both holding their wands in their hands and pointed at the door.

Amelia whispered, 'it's only me, you can put the wands down now.'

Sirius asked, 'What did Edgar and I do to the Hufflepuff girls in sixth year?'

Amelia remembered the prank vividly as she still remembered itching to strangle him for weeks afterwards, but answered.

'You got a house elf to substitute their shampoo for a potion you both made that dyed our hair yellow and black for a month and I distinctively remember spending the next two weeks trying to hunt you both down before I turned you both into pigs and hexed you to dance around the great hall at breakfast.'

Sirius shuddered and Anthony was looking between them with a look of disbelief before Sirius said,

'Ok, that'll about do it Amelia.'

Both Sirius and Anthony put their wands away and Amelia crossed the room to where Elizabeth was sleeping and sighed as she noticed the look that was on her goddaughter's face, her rest clearly disturbed by nightmares.

Sirius said, 'she fell asleep about an hour after we got here and we didn't have the heart to wake her up so we just got a couple of the aurors to stand guard outside.'

'Probably the best place for her, but I have good news for when she wakes up tomorrow.'

Sirius perked up, 'I take it Augusta and the kids survived then?'

Amelia filled both of the others in before Anthony said.

'So it was all a coincidence that it happened now and he has no idea that you had even left the country or why the ICW was meeting here, that's a relief.'

Amelia nodded, 'yes, but for now all we can do is wait for Elizabeth to awaken and then let her know that's happened, there's no point moving her so we might as well stay here, dawn can't be too far off now.'

So they did, Amelia, Sirius and Anthony stayed in the room guarding the sleeping Elizabeth until dawn broke over Romania, the sun's rays coming through the window causing her to wake up, the blanket falling off her as she sat up and blearily rubbed the sleep from her eyes, confusion increasing as she noticed the adults surrounding her, all wide awake with their wands pointed at the door of the Ambassadors office.

Wanting answers, Elizabeth asked.

'What's going on? Where am I?'

Elizabeth saw Amelia get up from her chair and sit down beside her, she frowned as she noticed the fatigue visible on her godmothers face but listened as she began to speak.

'Lizzie, it's alright, you're still at the embassy, and you fell asleep while you were waiting for me to get back from the Romanian ministry. But I have good news for you, the Longbottoms are all perfectly fine and they are in a safe place.'

Elizabeth's voice cracked and she felt tears in her eyes again, 'oh thank goodness for that, but what happened?'

Amelia filled her in on the events of the previous night and by the end of her tale Elizabeth felt a lot better but still anxious as she pondered the fate of the Bagshot family.

'Bagshot, any connection to Bathilda Bagshot the author?'

Amelia sighed and said, 'yes, great great grandson actually, that family has been well known for producing some of Britain's greatest academic minds.'

Elizabeth yawned and then asked, 'so what now?'

Sirius grinned, 'now, well we don't really need to be here any longer, so I reckon, get cleaned up, get some breakfast and then get an early portkey back home.'

Amelia agreed, 'probably best, we might as well go straight to where the Longbottoms have gone. So Lizzie, go get cleaned up and get changed and we'll get going after breakfast.'

So Elizabeth took her bag from Amelia after she had returned it to normal size and then followed the house elf who led her to a bathroom where she cleaned up and got ready for the day before meeting the adults for a quick breakfast. After their meal, Amelia took out an old cricket ball and soon the embassy disappeared in a flash of blue light as home beckoned.


	3. Chapter 3

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: Thank you for the review DonDon and I'm glad you love the series, I agree that it's a shame so many good series fics get abandoned, but I'll try and make sure that this series doesn't suffer that fate as it's one of the key reasons why I began to write it in the first place. Updates might slow down at times but I'll do my best to finish the series. I wasn't originally intending to change quite so much, but I got so many good ideas over the course of writing the series that the whole thing just snowballed._

Chapter 3: Reunions in Haunted Houses

Elizabeth felt her feet touch the ground a few seconds later and watched the world come back into focus as the portkey deposited them in the ministry atrium, looking around the crowded space, Elizabeth saw the usual hustle and bustle as the many wizards and witches entered the vast subterranean complex to begin their days work. Amelia quickly addressed the group,

'Right, now Lizzie I'm sure you want to get over to where the Longbottoms and Weasleys' are and we are going to take you there. Only problem is, the house in question has more wards than the whole ministry building including one crucial one. Now please take this, read it quickly and then give it to Richard, and make sure you both remember the contents as they are your way inside.'

Amelia reached into her pocket and drew out a small slip of parchment which she glanced at before passing it to Elizabeth. Elizabeth looked down at vaguely familiar handwriting which traced the words.

_The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number 12 Grimmauld Place, London._

Elizabeth immediately began to ask, 'what's…..'

But was interrupted by Sirius as he said, 'not here Princess, don't worry we'll explain more but not here, now give Richard the note.'

Elizabeth passed over the note and watched as Richard read it before he gave it to Sirius and was curious as Sirius then used his wand to set it on fire and dropped it, making sure it had completely burnt to ashes before he asked Amelia.

'We need some kind of transport Amelia, got anything we can borrow to get us out of here?'

Amelia replied, 'I'll get a battlewagon out Sirius I'm not putting Lizzie in anything less, but I imagine there's a stone of paperwork waiting on my desk and I also need to deal with a few arrangements, so I'll make my way over later.'

Turning to Elizabeth she smiled, 'you were wonderful in Romania dear, your parents would be proud of what you achieved, I know I am.'

Elizabeth was happy that Amelia was pleased with her, but was still anxious to get to the Longbottoms so that she could see them in person and she said.

'Thank you, but can we get moving, please?'

'Of course, but it'll take a little while to get the wagon ready and arrange an escort so you might as well follow me, you can wait in my office.'

Amelia led the way through the atrium and after going through the security checkpoint they waited at the bank of elevators. While they waited, a familiar balding red haired wizard approached them and began to speak.

'Minister, Sirius, Elizabeth, I was hoping to run into you.'

'Arthur, I trust the Longbottoms arrived safely.' Amelia asked him

'Yes minister, they came to the Burrow yesterday evening and Molly was going to move everyone to headquarters this morning, so they should be there by now. But that isn't why I was looking for you, I got a message from over the fence just after I came in, the Home Secretary and the PM want a briefing about the incidents yesterday.'

'I thought they might, so I'll get Rufus and Edmund up here and then we'll head over to Downing Street as soon as I can.'

The elevator arrived and everyone got in, Amelia pushing the button for the top level. The lift came to a halt a short time later and Amelia led the way along the hall until they reached a door with a plaque on it which read.

_Viscountess Amelia Bones_

_Minister of Magic_

Opening the door, Amelia led the way into a very ostentatious space which held a massive antique oak desk covered in bottle green leather with a gilded chair that reminded Elizabeth of the one Dumbledore sat at in the great hall of Hogwarts behind it. The room also contained a large drinks cabinet, several bookcases full of leather bound tomes and a few bottle green leather armchairs and a matching couch. Elizabeth took one look around as they all took seats and figured,

'_Another legacy of Fudge.'_

Probably the only things that didn't look like they once belonged to Fudge were several potted plants and a number of framed photos on the walls. Including several which bore the likenesses of Susan and Richard and even a few of Elizabeth, one immediately drew her gaze as she didn't remember it being taken. The image depicted her at the Yule ball dancing with Fitzwilliam, the memory bringing a smile to her face as she watched her photographic self-waltzing to an endless song played by a band eternally frozen in that one perfect moment depicted in the photograph.

Amelia commented as Elizabeth examined it, 'I hope you don't mind Lizzie, young Collin Creevey is quite the skilled photographer according to Richard, and once he saw the photo he insisted on sending me a copy. I wanted at least a few human touches in this room, as you can see, Cornelius had absolutely no sense of taste.'

Richard added his piece, 'you should have seen the pictures Colin took of everyone Lizzie. They were incredible, even Bozo at the Prophet couldn't have done a better job of it.'

Elizabeth laughed and said, 'no, I don't mind, I'll have to ask Colin if he can get me a copy of that picture, I didn't even know he was there. But he definitely has a gift with a camera and he'll probably end up working for the Daily Prophet sooner or later. But if you're the minister couldn't you get some more stylish furniture?'

Amelia shrugged, 'I could, but there's nothing actually wrong with it and frankly it isn't worth the bother or the expense. I see no point wasting money just for aesthetics sake when we're in the middle of a war.'

Elizabeth agreed and watched as Amelia wrote a couple of short notes before she cast a charm which turned the parchments into a paper planes and saw them fly out of the office door, Mr Weasley had obvious seen the curious look on her face and said.

'Interdepartmental memos, we used to use owls but the mess was terrible, this ways a lot cleaner, and it's easier on the owls as this way they're not being sent to all corners of the building all the time.'

About half an hour later there was a knock on the door and Amelia bade the visitor to enter, Elizabeth smiled as she recognized James, Tonks and Kingsley, Tonks was the first to greet her.

'Wotcher Lizzie, how are you doing? Heard you needed a lift.'

'Better now Tonks, but I was worried sick last night when Mercury showed up with that note.'

Sirius greeted the newcomers, 'King, James, Nymphie…'

The effect was immediate as Tonks's hair flared tomato red just as Elizabeth's used to do occasionally as she rounded on him.

'How many times Sirius? One of these days and you'll wake up missing something.'

Richard laughed at the look on Sirius's face and added, 'yeah Sirius, bad doggie, if you don't want to end up neutered I suggest not annoying Tonks.'

As everyone laughed Sirius muttered, 'laugh it up kid.'

Kingsley interrupted, 'The battlewagon is ready to go, and I suggest we get moving.'

Elizabeth, Richard and Sirius got up as Amelia said.

'When you get to the house, Sirius will explain how to get inside. I'll join you all later, once I've dealt with things here and been over to Downing Street.'

'You're working with them now? I thought that they had hardly any official contact with the ministry.' Asked Elizabeth

'That was true, under Fudge and Bagnold at least, but to be frank their hidebound ways of doing things were getting us nowhere and we need all the support we can get right now. So I try and speak to the PM at least once a week and try and give him at least the general outline of the most pressing matters that might affect the muggles as well as us.'

Sirius came up to her, 'come on, let's leave Amelia to get on with keeping this place busy, the Longbottoms are waiting for us.'

The thought brought a smile to Elizabeth's face as Sirius led the way out of the office and back to the lifts which took them down to the atrium level where they crossed through the throng of works moving around the place until they reached what appeared to be a vandalised phone booth. Kingsley beckoned for everyone to get in and so they squeezed into the cramped space and Elizabeth watched as Kingsley keyed in the code 62442 and was quite impressed when the booth ascended and soon deposited them on the same footpath in central London where they had first seen Henry last year. A battlewagon was waiting nearby and James climbed in and soon dropped the ramp in the back allowing the others to walk in and take seats in the passenger section before Tonks raised the ramp.

The big APC rumbled into life and soon began moving through the streets and before long, came to a halt besides a small square in what looked to be a fairly run down section of the city. The houses may have been impressive once, long ago, but they all looked grimy and unwelcoming with many having broken windows and piles of rubbish in front of their doors. Tonks led the way out of the battlewagon and across the road and Elizabeth began to look at the house numbers.

'_No. 11, no. 13, no. 14…. Where's no._'

'Think of what you read back at the ministry,' instructed Kingsley.

Elizabeth did so and the moment she thought of no. 12, a battered door appeared out of thin air, soon followed by walls and windows in a similar condition to the other houses. It looked like the house had simply inflated like a balloon and pushed the ones on either side out of the way without any noticeable effects on the structures.

'_Wow, that's incredible.' _

Richard whistled, 'whoa! That's not something you see every day.'

Sirius grimaced, 'come on, follow me, but whatever you do don't touch anything and be very quiet in the hallways, we do not want to wake up the old hag.'

Elizabeth kept her questions to herself and followed him passed a fence and to a forbidding looking door that stood at the top of some worn stone steps. She wasn't sure if it was just her, but she could sense a faint feeling of engrained evil in the air and a faint musty smell assaulted her nose. The door before her had no keyhole or letterbox and the doorknocker was in the form of a twisted serpent. Sirius tapped his wand to it and Elizabeth heard several metallic clicks and the rattle of a chain before the door swung inwards with an ominous sounding creak.

Elizabeth was still feeling apprehensive about the house as she noticed James heading back towards the battlewagon but stepped over the threshold and onto an aged woollen rug that was thick with dust. Once everyone was inside, Kingsley shut the door behind them and Elizabeth somehow felt the darkness she had been sensing grow thicker around her. The quiet voices of the others and the visible decay evident in the décor around her did not improve Elizabeth's first impressions of the house as she beheld the cobwebs, age blackened portraits and tarnished silver. Strange scuttling noises were audible behind the skirting boards and she could swear she could hear faint whispering voices around her. When Elizabeth considered all of these, it made her feel as though she had just walked into the set of some old Hollywood horror movie and that Frankenstein's monster, a servant called Igor or Dracula were going to walk into the dimly lit hallway any second.

However, it was neither of those famous horror characters that suddenly appeared when a door at the far end of the hallway opened, but instead Mrs Weasley came forward and embraced her.

'Oh Lizzie, it's wonderful to see you dear.'

She held her at arm's length as she examined her, 'you look tired and a bit peaky dear, you need feeding up, but lunch will be a little while I'm afraid. Now come along, Ron and the others are all upstairs and I'll take you to them, but be very careful and keep the noise down.'

'Why?' asked Elizabeth as Mrs Weasley very carefully tip toed past a moth eaten grey curtain and carefully edged around an umbrella stand that looked like a severed troll's leg. However Murphy's law applied itself in typical Potter fashion a second later when Tonks tripped over the trolls leg which fell to the floor with a loud thud which caused the grey curtains to part and behind them was a portrait of perhaps the most unpleasant woman Elizabeth had ever seen in her life.

The woman was screaming and screaming and all along the hall, other portraits began to yell at the tops of their voices, Elizabeth clapping her hands to her ears as the noise level increased to unbearable levels.

Kingsley and Mrs Weasley tried to tug the curtains shut over the old woman, not that it did much good as the woman screamed louder than ever and looked to be trying to claw at their faces as she yelled.

'Filth, scum! By products of dirt and vileness! Half breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers!'

Tonks apologised profusely and dragged the troll's leg off the floor as Mrs Weasley and Kingsley went up and down the hallway, stunning all the other portraits before there was an angry voice that came out of the door that Mrs Weasley had come from.

'Walburga enough, for goodness sake, keep your vile tongue behind your teeth and leave us in peace, you think we all want to be here?'

Elizabeth watched surprised as Augusta Longbottom walked up to the portrait and eyed it distastefully as the old woman depicted in it continued her tirade.

'You! Blood traitor, collaborator, shame of your family.'

'I said that's enough.' Said Augusta as she began to tug on the curtains before Sirius came and aided her to close them before the Longbottom matriarch turned to face Elizabeth

'Aaah, Elizabeth my dear, I see you met my sweet cousin Walburga.'

'That hag is your cousin Lady Longbottom?'

Augusta grimaced and said, 'I'm afraid so, but if you go back far enough, most of the pureblood houses are interrelated somehow and Walburga was my mother's sisters daughter. I'm quite amazed at Sirius strength of character that he so well survived growing up here being raised by that vile creature. Family parties were enough for me when I was growing up, and that was before she came here and turned into what you see.'

Elizabeth followed along the hall until they entered the faded remains of what had probably been quite a grand morning room, somebody had clearly being trying to clean it up, but years of neglect and the strange sense of evil that permeated the house still seemed to be resisting the efforts. Augusta sat down and beckoned for the others to do the same before Richard asked.

'Hang on, you mean you actually lived here Sirius? This place looks like somewhere I'd expect to see the likes of the Malfoys or the Parkinson's.'

Sirius frowned, 'you'd be right, but yeah, this was my family's house and since I'm the last Black, it's mine now, not that it matters as I can't stand the place and only ever came back once the war broke out. Been trying to get dear old mum down off that wall for ages but I bet she's put a permanent sticking charm on the canvas. I offered the place to Dumbledore to use as headquarters and as a safe house, because as nasty as this dump is, I doubt you'd find anywhere safer and honestly this is the last place the death eaters would look for any of us.'

Elizabeth wasn't sure if he was right, 'we might be safe from threats from outside maybe, but I don't know if it's just me but something feels just, wrong, about this house. I can't explain it, but I can sense it nearby.'

Sirius smiled ruefully, 'you're preaching to the choir Princess, but until we can get a few professionals through to take a look, there isn't much we can do. Now why don't you and Richard head upstairs and join the Weasleys and the Longbottoms, no doubt they're looking forward to seeing you both, Molly will call you all down a bit later on for lunch.'

Elizabeth and Richard nodded and left the room before heading up a flight of stairs, passing by a series of mounted heads on the walls which on closer inspection turned out to be house elves.

'_That's sick, honestly, that is just really sick.'_

The sound of familiar voices led Elizabeth to a closed door and when she opened it, she smiled when she saw Ron, Fred, George, Neville, Georgiana and Ginny all lounging around and felt her smile widen when she noticed Fitzwilliam standing inside, clearly unscathed from the attack and she exclaimed.

'Oh thank goodness, thank goodness you're all safe,' before she ran forward and pulled him close, glad to feel his fully alive body against hers as he murmured.

'It's alright Lizzie, we're all perfectly fine, I'm sorry if I scared you.'

Elizabeth couldn't help herself as the flood of emotions poured out of her, 'Scared me? I was worried sick William, one minute there I was enjoying a perfectly good party and the next minute an auror brings Mercury holding what looked like your final farewell. Do you have any idea what that feels like?'

Elizabeth heard him sigh as he pulled her closer and began rubbing her back, 'no I don't, but with so little time I really didn't have any other choice. I didn't want you to come home without knowing what had happened to us, and if we did die, at least I would have been able to offer you some comfort by giving you some form of farewell and telling you the truth.'

Elizabeth knew he was right and said, 'I know, you're right, I just…..'

'No one blames you Lizzie, its fine, just let it all out.'

Elizabeth wasn't sure she stayed there simply being held by him, but eventually she drew away and smiled as Fitzwilliam led her to a chair and when she was comfortable she asked.

'So how did it happen exactly?'

Neville began the tale.

'I was out in the greenhouse tending to some of the plants when I spotted hooded figures casting spells at the outer wards of the Park, I figured they were death eaters and legged it back to the house and went to tell gran. But she had already figured out what was going on when the wards came under attack and once I got to her she tried to get us out, only the death eaters had put wards up stopping us from leaving magically. So what she did was write a note to the aurors and turn the note itself into a portkey and then tied it to Lancelot's leg so that he could clear the wards and get the message out, then did the same thing to William's letter to you. After that, she got us to start firing anything we could out the windows towards them while we waited for the aurors.'

Georgiana took up the tale as Neville paused, 'after about fifteen minutes, they broke through the outer wards and got close enough to the house so that we could actually see them and we guessed that something was wrong as there were only three of them. Aunt Augusta took one of them down just before the aurors started coming in and when they got there, the other two of them fled on brooms. Once things calmed down a bit, aunt Augusta told us we were all going to the Burrow and we left a few hours later and then came here this morning.'

Georgiana shuddered, 'why they had to pick this house is weird though, it's ghastly, I mean who in their right mind lops off their house elves heads and puts them on a wall like a trophies, it's sick and that's not even considering the one who's here now.'

Ron seemed to agree with her, 'yeah, Mione's going to go mental when she gets here and I doubt Jane's going to like it much either.'

Elizabeth beamed, 'they're coming here? When?'

'Couple of days hopefully, after what happened to the Longbottoms Dumbledore took no chances and sent word out to everyone who's close to you,' answered Fred

'How do you know all this Fred?'

Fred and George grinned and then reached into their pockets and drew out what appeared to be lengths of flesh coloured string before Fred proudly began.

'With this your majesty, this is probably our most brilliant invention yet, extendable ears. With this you can hear everything that other people don't want you to, as long as there's a gap you can use to sneak it into where they are, heard dad telling mum not long after we got here.'

George added, 'good thing to, because mum's being really annoying, won't tell us a single damn thing about what's going on, I mean we had no idea about what happened to the Longbottoms until they showed up at the Burrow and told us themselves.'

They were interrupted by Mrs Weasleys voice summoning them downstairs for lunch and Elizabeth happily ate her fill as she felt quite hungry after the days travel. She spent the afternoon happily catching up with the others, eager to tell of her experience in Romania with the dragons much to the astonishment of the others as she told them of standing face to face with Mul jer tovitaan and managing to persuade him to agree to the ICW's proposal. After dinner, Amelia came back and told them, much to Elizabeth's dismay that they were going to be staying there for the whole summer and that the Boneyard and Longbottom Park were to be locked down for the duration of the war. She followed Fitzwilliam into one of the few completely safe rooms as he tried to cheer her up.

'Well at least we're all together, and we're safe for now. Yesterday could have ended a whole lot worse for us.'

'I know that, but the Boneyard was one of the most welcoming places I have ever been and when I went there it finally meant the end of living with the Dursleys. Coming here, I seem to have entered another prison.'

'The household is made of the people who live in it, not the building itself Lizzie, you've got us now and we're not going anywhere.'

Elizabeth smiled at him, 'you're right William, say, did you mean what you wrote in the letter? About how you had never known happier times?'

Elizabeth saw a hint of pink in his cheek, but he still faced her with his usual steely determination that had always seemed to be a mark of sincerity in her eyes.

'I could never lie to you Lizzie, not in a situation like that. But I wanted you to know how I felt as I don't think I would have rested peacefully without you knowing how ardently I admire and love you.'

Elizabeth couldn't believe her ears, she had almost never heard anybody say that they loved her. Her parents had, she was sure of that, but to actually hear those words unbidden from Fitzwilliam meant more to her than she could ever possibly express. She took a step closer to him, some aspect of her instinctively drawing her closer as she noticed his gaze, which had always shown friendship and affection now bore the most powerful emotion of all.'

'Oh William, I'm so happy, I never knew such happiness either and I don't think I could ever have been able to do anywhere near as much without you, oh I just…..'

But deciding that flowery words were overrated at that point, she went with her instinct and closed the distance between them, throwing her arms around his neck, leaning down and pulling him into a kiss. Elizabeth had heard hundreds of cheesy things about kissing passed around by the giggling girls who inhabited the dormitories at Hogwarts, like fireworks going off, or being struck by lightning and had always dismissed them as mere romantic nonsense. But as she felt Fitzwilliam's arms encircle her waist and his lips move against hers causing warmth to flood her body as her senses, already stronger than those of humans went into overdrive, she began to understand that they had all meant.

However while Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam remained oblivious to all but each other, other people in the house weren't and without warning the door opened and Elizabeth was mortified when she heard Neville's voice.

'Oh god, sorry Lizzie, William.'

Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam broke apart, holding each other at arm's length as they looked towards the other Longbottom heir apparent, who was scarlet in the face as he hurriedly explained.

'Gran and Mrs Weasley were getting worried when they couldn't find you both, Mrs Weasley wanted to show you where you're supposed to be sleeping Lizzie.'

Elizabeth smiled at him and said, 'oh thanks Neville, tell her I'll be right there.'

He left quickly and as Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam broke apart, he grinned broadly and said.

'It could be worse my love, it could have been the Weasley twins.'


	4. Chapter 4

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: Thank you all for the reception, over 200 readers and counting. It's always a good thing to know one's work is appreciated as it gives the motivation to continue._

Chapter 4: Sinister Discoveries and Cursed Houses

Elizabeth slowly settled in to life in the dreary house of Black as the duration of her residence turned from days to weeks, her fifteenth birthday proving one of only a very few good days. They had been allowed a break from the endless cleaning as Mrs Weasley and Lady Longbottom had been keeping them all busy during the daylight hours where the under aged residents which now included Hermione, Jane, Caroline and Charles did their best to try and shift an entire decades worth of grime and decay from the old house. But on that day, they had been taken to Diagon alley for a shopping trip, during which she and Fitzwilliam had finally managed a few hours alone together as the amount of time they could find had been very limited. When they returned, they were served a feast which contained all of her favourites. However unluckily for everyone, the house itself appeared to be resisting their efforts at cleaning it, and it sometimes seemed that no sooner had they finished cleaning out one room, another would then become filthy overnight. The problem had even tested Bill's best efforts once he finalised his transfer from Egypt and began to perform tasks for the order. The residents all learned to treat even the most mundane of furnishings with extreme caution as almost everyone had had several near misses or minor injuries at the hands of the fixtures, including one memorable incident where Charles had nearly broken his neck when a runner had tripped him and would have sent him flying down the staircase had it not been for the presence of Mrs Weasley who managed to steady him. Worse, if that were possible was the resident house elf, Kreacher, who ambled about from room to room muttering obscenities under his breath about the various occupants dwelling in the house and lamenting about his "poor mistress" the late Lady Black, who's tirades had not reduced at all whenever somebody accidentally woke her up.

Members of the order came and went from the house on a regular basis to hold meetings which Mrs Weasley had kept them out of which had angered them. But despite Fred and Georges early successes with their extendable ears, they had soon been detected by Mrs Weasley and she had berated them and had confiscated most of them with the exception of the ones they had hastily given to Elizabeth, Hermione, Jane and Ginny to hide. Mrs Weasley soon began to use the imperturbable charm on the door before any meeting were held, which only added to the frustration that they all felt for being kept ignorant of the situation, with Fred and George soon beginning to try and talk them into acts of rebellion.

Elizabeth regularly had disturbing dreams that showed Tom Riddle as a younger man working in a strangely familiar shop before going on to commit several brutal murders and she began to feel curious, as it was rare for dreams to follow a common link for so long. She was feeling the same frustrations as the others at being stuck in the house cleaning all day, being kept ignorant of the course of the war, and doubted she would have been able to stand it as well as she had without Fitzwilliam. The revelation of the new couple's relationship had not taken anybody by surprise at all, but had proven probably the only source of pleasant conversation for everyone in the house, with the possible exception of Caroline who had stayed silent, as Ron commented one morning.

'To be honest Lizzie, you two have been dancing to each other's tune for years, I reckon everyone knew it would happen sooner or later, except the two of you. Caro might have thought she could snatch him from you, but she even she must've known it wouldn't work. I wonder who won the pool though.'

Elizabeth began to have a horrible feeling as she asked, 'pool, what pool?'

Ron laughed, 'back in third year, a book got started on when you two would start dating. I reckon most of the school would be in on it by now. I'll have to find out who won as I think they'll now be somewhat richer, I know it isn't me as I picked Christmas of this year.'

Elizabeth wasn't amused at the thought of people betting on her love life but knew she couldn't realistically do anything to stop them and didn't have it in her to scold Ron as at least he was honest enough to tell her about it with some degree of tact.

The feelings of dissent began to build over the next few days after their one respite, slowly but surely until everyone, even Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam were on the brink of mutiny and George assembled them all one evening after they had been dismissed once again after an early dinner and began to preach.

'This has gone on long enough, they're exploiting us and they're giving us hardly anything. Yeah we got that one trip out, but compared to being treated like babies that hardly makes up for it.'

'Yeah I know, but what can we actually do? They've got the wands and we don't. Yeah we could prank them I suppose, but what will that actually achieve?' asked Charles.

'Are you going to stand for this Charles? Who cares what they do back, I say we prank their meetings so bad they have to take notice, sooner or later they'll have to at least hear us out right,' said Fred

'I'm not saying we should stand for it, but surely there has to be something else we could do as well.'

'We could try going on strike,' said Jane.

Hermione had seemed to agree with her sister, 'that might work, but we really need something big to get their attention as well, we don't want to hurt them though. For the record, I definitely don't want anybody getting hurt.'

Fred smiled, 'no, as much as we hate what they're doing to us, we're with you on that point Mione, but as a first act, what should we do? Any ideas people?'

Georgiana proposed, 'stop the next meeting somehow, rig the kitchen with something so it becomes unusable for the length of time.'

'That might work, pretty easy to do as well, we can just rig up something during the day to go off during the meeting. But what exactly, what do we have here?' mused Ginny.

Elizabeth, who had so far remained quiet, said, 'I still have most of the prank stuff given to me last year, we could probably do something with that to start with.'

George seized on a thread of possibility, 'oh your majesty, how we, your loyal subjects appreciate your generous spirit. Do you still have any of the sealed canisters that were in the box we left?'

Elizabeth nodded and Fred continued, 'oh queenie, those are perfect, some of our best stuff. Remember back in your second year how your loyal mate and consort asked us for that canister which turned all the Slytherins green and made them croak like frogs?'

Elizabeth said, 'oh yes, that was smooth.'

'Well, we developed similar devices which are an improvement, the gas makes the victims skin and their voice the same as a certain animal based on a minor alteration in the potion. Say for an example, if you add dog hair, anybody who breathes it in will grow fur all over and bark like dogs until it wears off. What's even better, the gas is odourless and colourless.'

Elizabeth had to laugh at the image and once she had stopped, Fitzwilliam said,

'I like the idea, but can you do chickens? If they're so scared to face their responsibilities then they should look like what they've become.'

Nobody had anything to say to this, as the thought was so powerful, but Elizabeth leaned closer and laid a hand on his arm as she whispered.

'They're not cowards my smoliin, they're doing this because they love us and because they think they're keeping us safe. We aren't trying to insult them, just to send a message that we're fed up.'

He sighed as he drew her closer, 'I know that, but we need a powerful message that will make them take notice, make them realise that we have minds of our own. We're not children, and they shouldn't treat us like them.'

The pair seemed to reach some form of agreement as they turned back to the others who had tried to act nonchalant as they usually did whenever they found them in the few stolen moments they had managed to take.

'Then we are all agreed, we sabotage the next meeting and then go on strike until they listen to us?' asked Elizabeth.

With unanimous assent from the assembled plotters, the busied themselves about the usual routine of the house of Black until they managed to catch wind of an upcoming meeting a few days later. During dinner that night, Jane kept most of the adults distracted by asking about the next room which was to be tackled, while Elizabeth planted the canister underneath the table and set the timer.

A few hours later, Elizabeth heard the kitchen door burst open loudly downstairs and a lot of noise that sounded like angry voices before footsteps came up the stairs and Mrs Wesley's voice angrily summoned all of them downstairs where she took them all to the morning room where most of the resident adults were waiting.

'Alright, whose idea was it to plant that thing in the kitchen and turning most of the order into chickens? Fred, George, these meetings are too important for childish pranks and you should know better by now.'

Elizabeth decided that enough was enough, 'it wasn't the twins, nii lost pah do mii. It was all of us. You expect us to sit in this house, treating us all like slaves while hardly giving us anything in return? Do you honestly think you can keep us safe by not telling us anything of what is going on out there? The war has only just begun and despite whatever you do, sooner or later it's going to affect us all, treating us like children isn't going to do anything useful, and in a war what you don't know can kill you, do you want to see us all dead?'

Elizabeth saw the colour drain from Mrs Weasleys' face as Sirius began,

'That's enough Elizabeth, look, I agree with you and so do most of the others but Molly insisted that you all weren't old enough.'

'Like Voldemort gives a damn about how old we are, every single one of us is a target.'

Amelia backed Sirius up, 'we know that Lizzie, and yes I think that you've gone too far Molly. You've smothered them all and now it's backfired, we should at least give them the general idea of what's been happening lately.'

'There's a difference between that and telling them everything,' she argued, 'they're all still at school and they're too young for this.'

Lupin tried to calm the tension that was rising, 'Molly, the more you persist in this the more they will resent you for it. Elizabeth's right, ignorance can easily cause death.'

Lady Longbottom seemed to agree, 'Molly, we know why you don't want your children involved, Gideon and Fabian were good people and they died heroes deaths. But I don't think they'd be too pleased if their sister mollycoddled her children to the point they ran off out of desperation and did something stupid. But think of it this way, if you give them the truth then they will at least understand why you don't want them fighting even if they do join a few years later.'

Elizabeth saw the look of fear and sadness cross the Weasley matriarch's face before she finally cracked and said.

'Well I can see I've been overruled, but Augusta, do you want to see Neville, or Fitzwilliam and Georgiana suffer?'

'No, I want to see them all happy and content in their lives Molly same as I would wish that for all those who are presently gripped by the fear Riddle has brought. I want to see Fitzwilliam marrying Elizabeth one day after the war ends, as I think the two of them make a wonderful couple. I want to see that swine Riddle and his sycophantic barbarian rabble six feet under. But until the latter takes place, the former cannot and while we argue on trivial matters such as this, neither will happen at all. You are right, that they shouldn't be on the front lines or be informed of absolutely everything, but that doesn't mean they deserve to be treated like babes and told that everything is all fine and lovely when as we both know, it isn't.'

That quietened Mrs Weasley before Elizabeth, who had been blushing at the image Lady Longbottoms' speech brought to her mind broke the silence.

'Los tol ful pogaas wah luaan? Is that really so much to ask? Is it too much to get out of this dungeon of a house every so often? True, we're not safe outside, but insides not safe either.'

Finally, everyone in the room settled down as they took seats and Sirius began, 'so what do you all want to know Princess?'

'What is going on? What's Tom actually been doing, other than kidnapping Professor Bagshot and attacking the Longbottoms?'

'Well,' said Amelia, 'first thing he wants is more followers, back in the first war he had hundreds at his command, mostly those he'd forced or bewitched, but many who had joined of their own will. When he fell, most of his army was either caught, fled, or went back to their lives and now he can't have more than a dozen at most of his older, more experienced death eaters. He'd surely be smart enough to realise that launching a war with so few would be suicide.'

Lupin added, 'not only witches and wizards, creatures as well, he had almost a whole second army of deadly creatures at his command. You heard him planning to recruit the giants and as the ICW's first action was to negotiate with the dragons, you must understand how important it is to make sure we counter his efforts on that front.'

'We're lucky that you managed to oust Fudge when you did Lizzie,' said Mr Weasley,' 'thanks largely to your efforts, we've been able to smash a lot of his power base and cut off a lot of resources like money that would have funded his war efforts as Fudge was secretly on his side and would never have done what the ministry has been under Lady Amelia. So because of all that, he's been forced to work on more plans that take longer in order to try and compensate for the damage that we've been able to do to him. So according to Dumbledore, he must try and gain an edge as he knows he now has two dangerous enemies instead of one.'

'Edge, you mean like a weapon?'

'Exactly, but really that's about it, main thing we're doing is trying to make sure he can't do any of that by all means at our disposal and to find ways to chip away at his fighting ability so that we only need to seek a final decisive battle once the victory has already been won,' said Sirius.

That answered most of Elizabeth's questions and so she said.

'Well that's most of what we wanted to know, at least for now. But can we please get out of here? Going to Diagon alley on my birthday was nice, surely we can get out to do something else?'

Amelia smiled, 'well guess what, you're all coming to the ministry next week. We have to give you your OM and everyone's coming to see you. That is going to be a day for the record books as you'll be the youngest recipient of the order in history.'

Elizabeth heard her fellow conspirators begin to murmur in approval as Molly urged them.

'Come on, you all ought to be in bed, it's getting late and I want to try and tackle the drawing room tomorrow and that room was a favourite of Lady Blacks.'

Trooping upstairs knowing they had won at least a partial victory, Elizabeth and the others with the exception of Caroline gathered around before George began.

'Well that worked, at least partially, probably the only thing they told us that we didn't already know was about this weapon though, what do you reckon it is?'

'Well if he wants it, it can't be good, could be some kind of WMD,' said Hermione.

'What's that?' asked Charles.

'Weapon of mass destruction, muggle inventions that can kill millions of people in seconds and level entire cities, but I don't think that's it. Magic would fry the circuitry in those sorts of devices. Knowing Tom, it'd have to be magic of some kind as he loathes everything to do with muggles.' Said Jane

'Question is, where is it now?' pondered Neville.

'Hogwarts maybe, or the ministry?' suggested Ron, 'Dumbledore kept the stone there.' Suggested Ron

'Size doesn't equal power Ron, we've got two prime examples proving that fact right here in this house.' Said Fred.

'What do you mean?'

'You've copped the bat bogey hex from Ginny, and you know what our queen is capable of.'

Elizabeth was about to comment but heard footsteps and said, 'someone's coming.'

'Mum,' said George, 'I swear she doesn't trust us an inch, hopefully she listens to Lady Longbottom.'

The twins vanished with a crack as the others headed for their rooms, Elizabeth quickly bidding Fitzwilliam goodnight as they stopped outside the room he was sharing with Neville.

'Goodnight my smoliin, hopefully Mrs Weasleys listens to Lady Augusta and we won't need to prank them again. As enlightening as tonight was, we shouldn't have had to have done it.'

Fitzwilliam smiled as he gathered her up in his arms, 'I know my love, but at least now we understand why she's acted the way she has. Mr's Weasley lost almost her whole family to the war and she's scared that history will repeat itself.'

He kissed her before the two of them separated for the night, Elizabeth soon falling asleep before her dreams showed her a different vision to the ones she'd been seeing previously.

_A young man who bore a resemblance to Sirius was kneeling before the dark lord's throne before he summoned a house elf to his side. The dark lord took the young man and the elf to a cave where he led them inside to a vast underground lake where a green glow in the middle shone an eerie light over the water that made it seem unnaturally still. Voldemort took the pair to a tiny island in the middle of the lake where a basin full of luminescent green potion and soon forced the house elf to drink it. The effects rendered the elf paralysed by terror and the dark lord soon left in satisfaction, though the young man showed a look of disgust as he brought the elf out. The scene shifted and Elizabeth saw the young man, now without death eater garb re-enter the cave with the elf and return to the island, the man drank the potion and Elizabeth watched as the affects seemed to be worse on him, though before long she watched the house elf take an oddly familiar locket from the basin and switch it for a similar one before leaving the man on the island. Elizabeth was horrified when she saw the man conjure a goblet and dip it into the water only for the lake to seemingly seethe with innumerable ranks of the undead, all of which advanced upon the weakened man before one from the hoard dragged him underwater…._

_The vision focussed on the house elf and Elizabeth watched as he attempted to destroy it and failed before he concealed it within a cabinet. _

Elizabeth woke up the next morning curious as to what it had meant, the dream had been very clear and most likely was a vision of the past, but as to why she was seeing it, she couldn't say. After getting ready, Elizabeth made her way downstairs for breakfast before everyone made their way up to the drawing room. Sirius examined the rattling desk before they turned to face the main problem of a massive doxy infestation.

After listening to Mrs Weasleys instructions, she took the bottle of doxycide and began spraying the liquid at the curtains, the ancient fabric slowly dropping more and more of the pests as the soaking continued. Elizabeth noticed Fred and George discretely pocket a few of the fairy shaped insects and saw them wink at her.

Slowly decontaminating the room took most of the morning, but when they returned after lunch, Elizabeth got a shock when she was helping to clear out a cabinet that was full of odd knick knacks. She was just reaching up to pick up an old locket on a shelf when she felt a feeling of extreme cruelty and malice that reminded her of the time when she and the others found the diary. Elizabeth quickly withdrew her hand as though it had been burned and took a step back as the others quickly gather around her.

'Princess, are you alright? What happened?'

'The locket, on that shelf, I think it's cursed like the diary, I can feel the darkness flowing from it.'

Ginny let out a cry of alarm as did the others before Sirius said, 'are you absolutely sure? If you're right, we'd better get Albus here sharpish.'

Elizabeth nodded, 'I had a vision last night, a young man and a house elf, the man died while trying to steal a locket looking just like that, and the elf concealed it within a cabinet after he tried to destroy it.'

Sirius reached in and picked up the locket before he put it on the desk where Elizabeth noticed the ornate engraving.

'The engraving, that's the Slytherin family crest, it's a perfect match for the one on my sword.'

'The young man Princess, what did he look like? Did he look a bit like me, bit shorter with lighter hair that was a bit curly?'

Elizabeth nodded vigorously as Sirius said, 'by god that was Regulus. That does it, wait there, I'm going to get Albus, and nobody touch that thing until he gets here.'

Nobody said much while they waited but soon the headmaster entered the room and began rather urgently.

'Elizabeth, are you certain? If that locket is what I think it is, then you may have stumbled upon something vital to the war effort.'

Elizabeth was equally quick, 'yes sir, I have only felt such an aura from an enchanted item once before and that was when we found the diary in Myrtles' bathroom.'

The headmaster drew his wand and cast a spell upon the locket which soon glowed a sickly green and he began.

'You were right Elizabeth, this is indeed connected to our enemy and it is what I believed it could be in which case it must be destroyed at once. May I ask everyone who is not adept in the art of occlumency to leave this room? Tom must never learn what Elizabeth has discovered here today and its ultimate fate.'

Nobody dared contradict him and soon only she, Sirius and Dumbledore remained as the Professor reached into his robe and drew Godric Gryffindors sword as Sirius said.

'Is that what I think it is?'

'Yes, the blade is made from goblin steel and when Elizabeth slew the basilisk it absorbed some of the venom, basilisk venom is one of only a few substances capable of destroying an artefact of this nature. Are you aware of horcruxes Lord Black?'

Sirius looked disgusted, 'yes, the hazards of growing up in a dark family included being exposed to learning about such magic. Are you saying that Voldemort made one, and that is it?' as he pointed at the locket which now seemed to be quivering, as though it could sense what was going on.'

'None one, seven, though I believe he only ever planned to make six.'

He told Sirius of what he had deduced based on Elizabeth's discoveries in the chamber and from what Lily had told her and by the end he was outraged.

'To think that even he would be capable of such evil as to make seven of these foul abominations, do it Albus, destroy it. I'm not keeping that thing in here one second longer then I have to.'

Albus examined it and tried to open it unsuccessfully before he called Elizabeth to him.

'As you have undoubtedly noticed, the locket bares the Slytherin crest. I believe that it will respond to a parseltounge command.'

Elizabeth watched as the headmaster raised the sword before she walked up to the locket and hissed.

'_Open.'_

The effect was immediate, the locket opened as Elizabeth stepped back and Dumbledore stepped forward, the figure of a young girl appeared and faced Dumbledore with a look of contempt.

'I know your heart brother, I have seen what you once wished to be, heard all of yours and Gellert's little schemes. How can you call yourself the leader of the light when you once wished for the world? How can you call yourself a superior wizard to Tom when you are guilty of the same crimes? You Albus, are nothing more than a hypocritical murderer and your actions caused my death.'

Elizabeth wasn't sure what was going on, but saw the sadness in Dumbledore's eyes as he hesitated, sword still raised before she said.

'Sir, no! It's not real, she's not who you think she is, that's Tom playing on your fear, fight it sir and destroy the locket.'

The sword was raised still higher as the figure taunted.

'Why destroy me Albus? Would you kill your own sister again? Why not join Tom? He and Gellert have a lot in common, and you might even finally get your wish. You'd be rid of me and Aberforth, the muggles would bow before you and you would finally stand triumphant over the lesser beings.'

The headmaster cried out,

'The sister I knew would never tell me to join one such as you Tom,' and he brought the sword down and into the glass of the locket, shattering it and driving the blade deeply into the desk before he extracted it as a black mist poured from the remains and faded with a piercing scream.

Dumbledore collapsed into a chair nearby as the sword fell to the floor with a clatter and Sirius said.

'Are you alright Albus? What on earth just happened, and who was the girl?'

The headmaster seemed to recover after a moment and said, 'Tom has clearly placed curses on all of the horcruxes as a defence mechanism, designed to activate when the objects are used as they were intended to be used. The girl was my late sister Ariana who tragically died in a duel between myself, Gellert Grindelwald and my brother Aberforth.'

He told them the tragic story of his sister and of his connection with Grindelwald and by the end, Sirius was shaking his head.

'The sooner we get the rest of these things destroyed, the better if that's an example of what they can do to people who are unfortunate enough to run across them.

Elizabeth had stayed quiet but asked, 'I remember the diary being sentient as well, is it possible that the things can act on their own accord?'

Dumbledore shook his head, 'I'm afraid I cannot give you all the answers you seek right now. Though today has answered many of my questions based on the evidence I have collected over the years, it has raised countless others. I will travel to the ministry, Amelia will undoubtedly wish to know of our discovery, and perhaps the DOM may shed some insight onto your theory Elizabeth. But may I ask you keep what you have heard to yourself? In the hands of our enemies, information such as this could be very damaging to our cause.'

'Yes sir,' Elizabeth agreed.

'Good, now I must bid you both good day, today has proven an important milestone along the path to a free world, let us all continue as much of the journey while the road lies free.'

Smoliin: Passion

Nii lost pah do mii: It was all of us

Los tol ful pogaas wah luaan: Is that really too much to ask


	5. Chapter 5

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: Got to love communities, several have added one or two of this series over the time I've written them, but yesterday I noticed all four of the completed works so far on the one community set up by Fangcaodi, thank you very much. That kind of support is a real source of motivation to keep going. A lot of you no doubt wish I would hurry up and get Lizzie to Hogwarts, don't worry. Summer has only 2-3 chapters left and then it's off to the castle._

Chapter 5: The Order of Merlin

The fateful day dawned, a week after the confrontation Elizabeth had led against the adults after tensions had reached boiling point. The week had passed in a much calmer atmosphere than had previously been felt, as if the destruction of the horcrux had somehow lifted quite a lot of the malice from the old house. Rooms no longer became filthy overnight and swift progress had been made in restoring the place, especially after Sirius and Elizabeth had led Kreacher into one of the rooms and together managed to extract the old elf's side of the tragic tale that Elizabeth had witnessed in her vision.

'Kreacher, I want you to tell us, did Regulus ever take you into a cave with the dark lord?'

Kreacher looked terrified but his bond of servitude eventually ran out and he said, 'yes master.'

Elizabeth held up the broken remnants of the locket and said, 'the locket has been destroyed Kreacher, your masters last wish has been fulfilled, now why did he wish to destroy it?'

Kreacher remained silent before Sirius ordered, 'answer her question Kreacher, Elizabeth is a descendant of Dorea and is therefore a member of this family, and you obey her as you would any other member.'

Kreacher hesitated before finally giving his account of being led into the cave by the dark lord and Regulus and being forced to drink the green potion which brought terrible visions to his mind, before Regulus brought him out. Later, Regulus confessed to him of becoming disillusioned with the dark lord's cause and the two of them went back to steal and destroy the locket as Regulus had been told it was of great importance to the dark lord's desire for immortality. He finished by telling them of Regulus ordering him to make him drink the potion and then switch the lockets before taking the stolen one and destroying it. However he couldn't and then he simply hid the locket away in the cabinet.'

Sirius had a guilty look as he surveyed the trembling elf before he said, 'well Kreacher it's gone now, so Regulus can finally rest in peace. I know you loved him, so if there's anything of his you want you can have it if you ask me, as well as anything you've got hidden away already. But now Kreacher, I want to rebuild this house into one Regulus would be proud of, so to start with, give Mrs Weasley and the others a hand will you?'

Kreacher had been crying, but swiftly left to obey his master without a word before Sirius turned to Elizabeth.

'I always thought that Regulus was just a dumb little fool who joined up with the eaters, got scared and then tried to leave before he got himself killed. All these years and I had no idea.'

He turned to face the wall where a massive tapestry hung, it was aged and it looked like it had been attacked by doxies in places. But the gold thread showed a vast family tree stretching as far back as the middle ages, with large words at the top reading: The Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, _Tojours Pur._

'What's the motto mean?' asked Elizabeth.

'Always pure,' said Sirius with a snort, 'you must have guessed what sort of people my family were, well the evidence is right here on this tapestry. Anybody who didn't agree with the pureblood mantra got blasted right off, that's why you won't find me, Tonks, you, or your grandmothers names on there, as well as any other decent witch or wizard the family produced.'

'You're related to Tonks?'

'Oh yes, her mum Andromeda's my favourite cousin and it was nice seeing her again after I got out of Azkaban, mum blasted her off after she went and married Ted, a muggleborn and a good man. Infinitely better than whoever they were hoping to contract her to.'

Elizabeth winced at the thought of having her freedom taken like that and paid attention as Sirius continued, 'her sisters Narcissa and Bellatrix are still there, they made lovely respectable pureblood matches.'

Elizabeth saw the names and noticed with a shudder, the line of gold embroidery that led from Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy to a name she was all too familiar with, Draco, and realised that their common ancestry made them distant cousins.

'Damn I'm related to Malfoy, which sucks.'

Sirius laughed, 'like Augusta said, most of the old houses are related somehow if you go back long enough. But luckily in your case, the Potters and the Longbottoms have never been tied by blood. Poor Cissy, she was actually a nice girl before she married that prick Lucy, if only she'd had the sense to run off like Andy did, the world would hopefully have been spared the embarrassment of Lucy's spawn. You aren't alone in embarrassing relatives Princess, I've got plenty on here. Here's old Phineas Nigellus, least popular headmaster in Hogwarts history, and old aunt Elladora, began the tradition of beheading our house elves when they got too old to carry tea trays, crazy bitch. Yet despite mum's best efforts, here I am and poor old Reggie's dead. He was younger than me, and a better son as mum always reminded me. I bet if she'd known what he'd done, he would have been blasted off too.'

Elizabeth stayed silent as she let Sirius get it all off his chest, 'they used to think that being a Black made you practically royal, and they were all for Tom when he came along, but once people realised what he was actually capable of, they got cold feet.'

Elizabeth had been thinking about how the Black sisters had been contracted to their husbands and had a thought.

'Sirius, I've just had a thought, you said that Bellatrix and Narcissa were contracted to their husbands. If you're the new head of house Black, could you dissolve their marriages and disown them? Then let Andromeda and the other good Blacks back in?'

Sirius clapped a hand to his forehead before he hugged her tightly and kissed both of her cheeks much to Elizabeth's astonishment.

'Princess that's ingenious! Why didn't I think of that? I know that Amy didn't succeed in seizing some of the assets of the imprisoned death eaters because her new laws couldn't be applied retrospectively. But I bet if I could find a clause in Trixie's contract that Rudolphous has breached, I could probably dissolve the match and seize their assets as a penalty if there isn't one written in. If I do the same to Cissy, she might have useful information too if she could be persuaded to defect as she must have seen and heard all kinds of nasty stuff. It could also potentially destroy what's left of the Malfoy fortune too as they'd have to repay the value of her dowry and since Amy took most of their money, the only asset they'd have of much value would be Malfoy manor itself and who knows what Lucy might have stashed away in there.'

Elizabeth was pleased Sirius was as happy as he was practically bouncing around the room before he concluded.

'I'm going to contact Dumbledore right away, tell him what Kreacher told us and let him know of your little scheme and see what he thinks.'

Dumbledore had seemingly been as impressed as Sirius with the idea and encouraged him to enact the plan and soon Elizabeth began to see Sirius engrossed in a lot of complicated legal tomes over the next few days. An eager grin on his face as he searched for a way to deliver the legal blow to the enemy which would drain a significant level of finances from their coffers.

But now the day of the presentation had dawned and Elizabeth rose from her bed feeling nervous as to what was to come that night, but tried to put it out of her mind as she freshened up and got dressed. Heading down the corridor, she met Fitzwilliam and after sharing a kiss, he asked.

'Are you nervous my love?'

'Yes, the OM's a big thing, and I'm the youngest to ever receive it.'

'You don't need to worry, we'll all be there with you, and we have a friendly ministry now. I hear that Lady Amelia's talking of taking away Orders that were given to Fudge's cronies.'

He took her land and led her to the kitchen where the others were waiting, all of them looking happy for her, even Caroline, though she did wear a look of mild sadness as she gazed at Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam's entwined hands. Mrs Weasley looked sympathetic as she dished Elizabeth up a large plate of breakfast.

'You don't need to be nervous dear, tonight you join the company of the greatest who ever walked these shores, and it is good that you are as it will finally restore some credibility. God knows how many Fudge handed out to people who bought his favour. Now have you thought of what you're going to wear?'

During the trip to Diagon Alley, Lady Amelia insisted on taking her into the boutiques and had purchased her some new clothes for both every day wear and official functions, as well as dropping past Madam Malkin's to buy new Hogwarts attire as she had already outgrown what she already had.

Elizabeth smiled, 'yes, I thought I'd wear my new pale pink dress robe.'

'Oh good choice, you'll look absolutely lovely dear, now eat up, you're a growing woman.'

Once Elizabeth had eaten her fill, she and the others spent most of the day at leisure as the cleaning effort was all but finished. Though they had yet to manage to take down the houses most infamous resident, most of the other old portraits had been banished to the attic and much of the more questionable décor had been removed altogether. Now the house seemed to almost sparkle with a new energy and was actually quite a pleasant place to be as Elizabeth and the others were relaxing in one of the upstairs rooms. But soon enough it came time to get ready for the presentation ceremony and so after parting from the others, Elizabeth made her way to her room and spent the next few hours with Ginny, Georgiana, Jane and Hermione getting ready. Elizabeth examined herself in the mirror and was pleased with her appearance as she gazed at her reflection.

Elizabeth barely recognized herself from what she once saw in the mirror every day only a few years ago, where once she had been somewhat short and skinny with dark red hair that tended to be a bit bushy. Now she had grown over a foot taller and was filling out her frame with a figure that would soon rival Fleur's and already had hair just as striking as the French beauty. Her new robes were a wonderful floor length creation of pale pink silk, cut to flatter her increased height and fast developing figure to perfection, while a matching set of delicate gold and amethyst jewellery complemented it all tastefully without overpowering the robe.

The other witches were speechless as Elizabeth turned around before Jane broke the silence.

'Wow Lizzie, you'll have Fitzwilliam melting into his shoes when he sees you, you look like some sort of silver screen siren.'

Elizabeth giggled at the images this produced before she cast her eyes over the others who all looked just as wonderful in her eyes as they all sported new dress robes for the occasion. Jane's and Georgiana's were the stand out in her eyes as the delicate cream shades they'd chosen looked wonderful with their skin tone, though Hermione's choice of a similar pink to Elizabeth's and Ginny's choice of pale blue/green looked just as nice.

'You all look great too and should turn the right heads, now come on, I expect the boys are getting impatient.'

Elizabeth led the way out of the room and soon met the boys, all of whom were looking at them with looks of awe on their faces as they looked at them before Hermione began.

'Close your mouths, you might catch flies.'

That shook the boys out of their stupor much to the witches amusement and Elizabeth gladly took Fitzwilliam's arm as most of the group split into pairs and began to move downstairs. A portkey jump led everyone to the ministry atrium which was full of important looking witches and wizards of varying ages, all of whom were jostling around as they were being screened by a heavy security presence of aurors. Strangely though, as Elizabeth was walking through the throng she noticed eventually that despite the fact she was being stared at, none of the guests looked to have been ensnared by her allure.

After getting through the checkpoint, they made their way through the halls of the ministry until they came to a vast dining room that could easily sit over one hundred guests.

Fitzwilliam whispered to her,

'This is the state dining room, and it's normally used for when ministers need to entertain foreign visitors or for big functions of the Order of Merlin. Few witches and wizards ever see this room and those that do usually don't get to until they've done something very important or they've been invited by somebody else who has.'

'Or in the old days, paid Fudge enough money.'

'That as well.'

An usher directed them to a table quite near the top of the room where a raised stage held the principal table.

Elizabeth found place cards with her and her friend's names on them and sat down after Fitzwilliam had drawn her chair for her. Slowly the hall filled up around them as more and more guests filed in and took their seats, Elizabeth feeling delighted when Charlotte joined them soon afterwards. Liveried waiters began passing drinks around and as Elizabeth sipped hers, she listened as Charles asked.

'Isn't that Narcissa Malfoy? What's she doing here?'

'Malfoy? Where?' asked Ron

Richard indicated a blonde woman in her mid 40's with a rather sad expression on her face who was surprisingly sitting a little further along from them, and apparently deep in talk with Sirius.

'I see her, but what's going on here? I know they're cousins but….' He said.

'Could he be trying to tempt her to come live with us? She is his family and her husband is in prison,' asked Jane.

'The Malfoy's live with us? Oh god no, blood is thicker than water Jane but there are limits,' said George.

'But aren't we better than that George? Can we really condemn both of them to an uncertain future just because of Lucy's actions?' asked Hermione.

'Well, Malfoy junior is definitely a chip off the old block Mione, but I don't know about her so you're probably right. But us actually living with that git? No way would Sirius do that to us,' said Fred.

Neville added his piece, 'but if the Malfoys are throwing themselves on Sirius's mercy, then where is Ferret boy exactly?'

'Good question, but are they really throwing themselves on his mercy? Or are they just trying to reconnect as family?' asked Charlotte.

Elizabeth had a shrewd idea of what might be going on but knew she could tell the whole truth and instead said.

'He is the head of house Black now, technically, maybe he's trying to offer an olive branch in exchange for something.'

'That could be it my love, pureblood politics can be a dirty game and both of them are experts even if Sirius won't admit it, question is, what does he want from her?'

Meanwhile the two objects of scrutiny were bent close together as they continued their discussion.

'Sirius, just do it, though I never had Andy's strength to resist, the least I can do now is to help you bring this about. I never loved Lucius and by your actions you will free me.'

'What of Draco? What will he think?'

Narcissa sighed in lamentation, 'he was such a sweet boy when he was younger, and I don't know what Lucius did to him over the years. But despite my best efforts, he filled his head with all the dark desire for power and the belief that being a pureblood makes you superior that he himself has. After Lucius was arrested I tried to do what I could to undo the damage, but it was too late and he became even more twisted. He blames Lady Potter for his loss of status and for Lucius's fall and he hardly even speaks to me anymore since he thinks I am a traitor for not pledging myself. I doubt it will be long before he will pledge his allegiance to the dark lord along with Pansy. Whatever I say or do will have little consequence for him now I fear. Though I hold little hope for myself, I can only hope that he may one day see the folly in the path that he has chosen.'

'It's not too late for you Cissy, you're still young and who knows what the future could hold for you, but for now we need your help. Will you come back to the manor if I set up a meeting between you and Albus?'

'He would never let me join the order, the other members would never look past my surname and demand my immediate arrest.'

'The others will be suspicious, yes, but I believe Albus will be able to persuade them. Don't forget that several of the order are people you knew at Hogwarts, if I talk to them first they'll probably vouch for you.'

'Who Sirius? Who would look past my husband?'

Sirius winked, 'you'll see Cissy, don't you worry, now how about we go and find Albus after the presentation ceremony. We might even try and introduce you to Lizzie, this whole scheme was her idea.'

Narcissa was astonished, 'truly? How very Slytherin of her, Draco always said she had no real cunning in her but I can see he was mistaken as this whole plan would be worthy of Salazar himself.'

Sirius laughed. 'If you'd said that to her face a year or so ago, she'd hate you for it. Now she'd probably take it as a complement considering her ancestry.'

Elizabeth was just in time to see Sirius laugh before turning her head towards the top table where Amelia had gavelled for attention.

'Witches and wizards of the legacy, honoured guests, welcome. Tonight we gather to welcome a new member to our ranks and to address a serious matter which has long plagued the illustrious ranks of our members whose proud pedigree stretches as far back as the great Merlin himself. I talk of course of corruption.'

The people in the room were murmuring, some seemed resigned while others looked defiant but no one dared openly contradict what was being said as Amelia continued.

'In recent memory, far too many have been admitted to this order on false pretences, lies, bribery, blackmail. Crimes that would shock any decent wizard, and yet those who sought to bend the true mission of our order to evil ends thought these pretenders were worthy to call themselves the custodians of Merlins legacy. This stops now, and to achieve this, it is my intention, together with the committee to scrutinise our membership and restore the order to the proud institution it once was.'

Most of the audience were cheering, though a few stayed quiet before Amelia continued in the aftermath.

'Now, I call upon our oldest member, Professor Albus Dumbledore to present the Oder of Merlin first class to our youngest member.'

The Professor got up and spoke.

'Thank you madam Minister, for extreme courage and the willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty in defence of ones friends and classmates, I award the Order of Merlin to Lady Elizabeth Potter.'

The crowd cheered as Elizabeth got out of her chair and slowly walked up to the top table where the old Professor held out his hands, which held a golden medal on a red ribbon. The medal bearing the engraving of a sword and a staff as well as a motto which read:

_Merlino prudens et gratia_

A long wrapped bundle was brought forward by an elderly wizard and Dumbledore said.

'Do you Lady Elizabeth Dorea Potter swear to uphold the grace and wisdom of Merlin?'

'I do.' Elizabeth replied.

'Then take the test of integrity so you may prove your worth.'

The bundle was unwrapped to reveal a wizard's staff, immensely old and made of a single branch of a twisted white tree. Yet despite its obvious age, the staff was still giving off waves of pure power that Elizabeth could feel washing over her.

'_Oh my, is that actually…'_

The elderly wizard standing beside Dumbledore held out the staff and Elizabeth feeling her heart beat faster stretched out her hand and closed it around the ancient wood. It was oddly warm to the touch, much like both of the wands she had wielded.

'_Is something supposed to happen?'_

Before Elizabeth realized what was happening, it felt like time itself had slowed to the consistency of treacle. The crowd, Dumbledore and his companion had fallen silent and before her eyes the figure of an aged wizard appeared.

He was smiling at her and beckoned her forward and before Elizabeth realized what was happening she felt her legs obey and move her towards the figure, who spoke.

'It has seemed an age since a Potter last stood before me young Elizabeth, come now, let us take council together, for you would have to be one of the most unique of those who have ever stood before me to face judgement.'

Elizabeth could only ask, 'Are you, I mean are you really?'

The figure gave a small laugh, 'yes I am Merlin, though it was not my only name as I was once known by many titles throughout the lands I walked. If you are like the tens of thousands before you who have stood here, you undoubtedly wish to know how this is possible, am I correct?'

Elizabeth nodded.

'Well then young Elizabeth, when I grew to a certain age, I knew my time was limited and so I founded the order to continue my work of watching over the wizarding world as we know it. For the simple purpose to provide council to the leaders of men and wizards so that a harmonious balance could be maintained. But in order so that I might still be able to ascertain the strength of the hearts and minds of those who were invited to join the order, I needed a way to speak to them even beyond the threshold of death. So I placed an imprint of my personality and my powers within my staff. I left the staff in the custody of the most trusted member of the order who could then use it to administer the test to each new member and before their own death, choose a successor to pass the staff on to. I believe the founders of Hogwarts used a similar magic to create the sorting hat.'

Elizabeth smiled before she asked, 'my lord, what exactly is your test?'

Merlin grinned mischievously before he said, 'that's for me to know and for you to learn in later years. But trust me my dear, you have passed with flying colours as I can see you have the strength of ages, the wisdom of time and the compassion to place others before yourself. But before I leave I ask you one question, what is your goal in learning magic?'

Elizabeth had never been asked so simple and yet so difficult a question and thought for a long moment before she said.

'To gain a greater understanding of the world around me, and to help protect those who I love.'

Merlin placed a hand over his heart and bowed before the world sped up and he vanished.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and looked around wildly before Dumbledore smiled with his customary all-knowing twinkle.

'You have passed the test, and one day may grow to understand why you have done so.'

To the packed room he judged.

'Lady Elizabeth has passed the trial and is admitted to the order from this night henceforth. Now join us all as we feast and celebrate this momentous day.'

He gave Elizabeth the medal and Elizabeth, heart pounding, hurried back to her seat amidst a torrent of applause.

Elizabeth dropped into her seat next to Fitzwilliam who leaned over and kissed her, Elizabeth leaning into his embrace as she felt her emotions relax, before he drew away after a while and praised.

'You did wonderfully up there, but what actually happened? You just went still for a while after you picked up the staff and then you looked like you'd seen a ghost.'

'You aren't far off my smoliin.'

Elizabeth whispered what had happened and by the end, Fitzwilliam was open mouthed.

'By god, I never knew, but surely they can't do that to everyone, otherwise how would Fudge have given so many orders to his cronies.'

Lady Longbottom surprised them both by saying, 'they never took the test, the awards that Fudge and others like him used to give out were just handed to the recipient as they all realized that Merlin would never accept the recipients. The true members who had actually taken the trial have always thought of the ones who had the order handed to them interlopers but the true chosen have always been in the minority up to now, so there has been little momentum to change things. Hopefully now we will finally be able to restore the order to what it once was, though Elizabeth, you must remember never to divulge what happened here tonight to those who are not presently within these walls. If a dark lord were to ever gain possession of that staff, I shudder to think of the consequences.'

Elizabeth agreed and so the feast came and went with all enjoying the excellent food and drink that were served to the assembled members and their guests, one by one, many of the guests came to congratulate Elizabeth as did all of her friends. Towards the end of the night, when many of the guests were beginning to head home, Sirius led Narcissa over to Elizabeth who had been talking with Jane and Hermione and Narcissa held out a hand.

'Lady Potter, it is a pleasure to be introduced at last, though I wish it could be under better circumstances. My name is Narcissa Malfoy, I was wondering if we could talk? I know you probably don't trust me but it is important.'

Elizabeth agreed and followed the elder witch to a nearby table, and made sure that the two of them were visible to the others nearby, a fact that wasn't missed by Narcissa.

'Sirius was right, you are a clever witch, but you need not fear me for I will not hurt you. I want to talk about yours and Sirius's scheme.'

Elizabeth thought for a moment before she remembered and then responded, 'It could really do a lot of damage to the enemy. At a stroke we could deny Tom several fortunes and countless dark artefacts and whatever else the Lestranges' have hidden in their vaults. It isn't about the money, to be frank I don't care a jot about it. I'm rich enough for myself as is my boyfriend. If anybody deserves the money it's Neville, and if I know him, he'll donate it all to St Mungoes hospital.'

Narcissa smiled, 'a more fitting use for ill-gotten gains I could not think. But before Sirius proceeds, I want to have one answer from you, honestly. Do you feel that my son is beyond redemption?'

Elizabeth wasn't sure how to answer but did her best, 'he isn't truly evil, not yet anyway. Maybe he could be saved, but it would take something very significant to do it. Lucy, sorry I mean Lucius probably brainwashed him from an early age, and now he's had everything he thought of as rightfully his taken and he and Pansy both blame me.'

Narcissa had laughed at Elizabeth's joke and said, 'I take absolutely no offence, it's a good name for him actually. He spent more time than me doing his hair and probably spent years perfecting that strut of his. But as to Draco, I fear you're right though it gives me no pleasure to admit it as despite everything he is still my son, still my own flesh and blood. I doubt if you'd know that he was actually a sweet boy when he was little, until Lucy got his hands on him.'

Elizabeth smiled sadly, 'well then we can only hope that Tom can be defeated before Draco loses his soul in his lust for revenge as I fear that the path he is on can ultimately lead to only one outcome.'

Narcissa's eyes misted, 'I know, no parent should have to bury their child but I fear that Draco's grave will be of his own making.'


	6. Chapter 6

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: Over 400 readers and counting, and three reviews! Oh yes, thank you very much._

Chapter 6: Defectors and Reunions

Narcissa Malfoy nee Black, felt the melancholy that had plagued her for the past few days as she walked up the familiar road that led to the old Black house. Her companion tactfully silent as he recognized her pain and her need to process what had happened. As she once again felt the memories pass before her mind, she felt the same sadness as she remembered everything that had transpired leading to this moment. Especially what had seemed to her to be her final confrontation with her son the night before, which had finally driven her to leave Malfoy Manor and her life as she had known it behind.

_Narcissa had just entered the house after the conclusion of the presentation ceremony when she found Draco still awake, a furious expression on his face as she faced him._

'_You grovel before our enemies and the lesser beings who should bow before us, why do you persist in staying your hand? Father would not be hesitating, he would have resumed his place besides our lord and would in time be rewarded.'_

_Narcissa looked sadly at her son, 'Draco, the world is changing whether you admit it or not, Lucius failed to realize the cost of clinging to the old ways and has paid the price for it. If we are to survive, we must find ways to adapt, to forge a new place for ourselves in the new order that is rising. The dark lord is a fool, who clings to an old dream of glory and dreams of a time that I never believe even really existed. He would never have forgiven your father for his failure, he would have been tortured and executed for it.'_

_Draco didn't seem to be listening, 'you actually believe Potter more powerful than the dark lord? That bitch stole everything from us, our wealth, our rightful place in society and fathers freedom, and yet you bow to her? Her, who is all that stands between our lord and victory in his crusade to cleanse the world of the filth who inhabit it and lead us to our new golden age.'_

_Narcissa tried to be firm, 'Draco that is enough, a true Slytherin never bows to anybody, a true Slytherin is independent, cunning and ambitious. The death eaters are not so, they bow and grovel before a man who would kill them on a whim, who would demand absolute loyalty without giving anything in return. I have observed Potter, and I have listened to many different accounts of her abilities and her exploits. From both those who agree with what she represents and those who are neutral to her, and I have also listened to your father's accounts as well as yours. Potter is a very powerful witch, oh yes, very powerful indeed and she fully embodies the qualities of Salazar himself. The dark lord underestimated her as did your father and both paid the price for their folly. If we were to be helpful to her, she could use her influence to help us, perhaps even restore that which was taken.'_

_Draco sneered, 'if she is so great, and if she is so cunning, then why did she join the Gryffindors? Hardly a place for one who claims to be the heir of Slytherin.'_

'_Because you drove her to it Draco, you and Pansy both insulted her and her friends and she began to hold Slytherin with nothing but contempt, until she met Salazar's ghost and by then it was too late. I heard this from her own mouth, but it drives home quite a simple point. How can wizardry claim superiority over those of muggle birth while we are plagued by the same flaws? They are as human as you or I Draco. If we cannot overcome centuries, millennia of feuding brought on by the mere prejudice of birth, then how can we hope to advance as a race to the point when we can truly say that we are superior to the muggles?'_

'_The muggles oppressed us, killed and enslaved us and drove us away like dogs forcing us to live in fear. The time has come to reveal ourselves, to take vengeance for all who were slaughtered by the brainless beasts and to take back what was stolen from us. We are the chosen of creation, we who were gifted with the power to change the world as we see fit. Soon it will be them who shall cower as we once did, soon it shall be the muggle beasts who will be burned.'_

_Narcissa knew that there was little more she could do but couldn't bear to lose her only child to madness. _

'_That vengeance you seek shall only turn us into the very beasts you seek to destroy. The creator doesn't play favourites and he seeks harmony and balance between the sentient races. If you truly wish to prove yourself better than the beasts you claim the muggles are, then do it by proving yourself better at what they do. Think of it, the election of a prime minister or a president of wizard origins would be the ultimate revenge against the religious zealots who provoked this conflict as you wouldn't be giving them the reaction they want and you would also be proving yourself superior to them at the same time.'_

'_You would allow such injustice to go unanswered? You would have us willingly serve those barbarians who by all rights deserve nothing less than the fiercest justice our lord shall meet out. You betray everything our ancestors have stood for and have suffered and died to defend, you who come from one of wizardoms oldest and most noble houses. I am ashamed to call you my flesh and blood and the next time I see you will be at the point of my wand. If you refuse to join the great crusade, then you are my enemy and an enemy of the people.'_

_Narcissa began to cry as she watched he son storm out of the room and before she knew what was going on she watched as he stepped into the floo and left to head to the Parkinson's home. Sinking onto a couch Narcissa cried until she eventually fell asleep, her dreams haunted by visions of seeing her sons life snuffed out in battle. Or by the hands of the dark lord for some perceived failure, his eyes begging for release as the dark lord held his wand on the cowering boy at his feet._

Waking up the next morning, Narcissa knew that she couldn't stay where she was as Draco would probably make sure that the death eaters would soon come looking for her. Realising that her only choice was to get to Hogwarts quickly, Narcissa quickly packed some clothes and a few treasured possessions into a bag before hurrying to what Lucius thought of as his secret hiding place which held a lot of documents from his time as a death eater and some of the plans he had been working on with the commission. Packing all of these into one of Lucius's briefcases, she left the house after casting a few wards that she hoped would keep the death eaters out until the order could sweep the house for anything else of use. Walking along the driveway which was surrounded by grand parks where she could just hear the noise of peacocks. Narcissa reflected on what had happened since that fateful summer when she had come home to find that she had been contracted to marry Lucius. How she envied her sister who had run when she learned of her own contract and wished she'd done the same as if she'd so, her life would have been so much different.

'_Oh Andy, if only I'd had your strength.'_

Lucius had never mistreated her and was affectionate as an arranged husband could be, but they had never really known the unconditional love between spouses that Andromeda shared with Ted. But all of that paled next to what Narcissa thought of as her biggest failure, Draco.

Narcissa had adored him from since before he'd been born as he represented so much of her hope for a better world and also fulfilled her duty in her family's eyes to produce an heir for Lucius. After Draco had been born his father paid little attention at first, but once Draco had grown a few years older he began to spend an increasing amount of time with their son. At first Narcissa welcomed it, glad to see Lucius fulfilling his duty as a father to their son. But the more he grew, the more she became wary as Lucius passed on more and more of his view of the world to Draco. By the time he grew old enough to attend school, he had begun to idolize his father and though she had hoped that time away and a few conversations together would help him to change into a well-adjusted boy, those hopes were soon dashed by the tone of his letters home and his topics of conversation when he came home for the holidays.

'_My poor boy, forgive your foolish mother.'_

Dissaparating from the front of the gates, Narcissa arrived in Hogsmeade and began the long trek to Hogwarts castle, reaching it after a time and finding it deserted beyond the suspicious features of the caretaker who met her at the front door.

When she was finally ushered into the headmaster's office, she sank gratefully into the offered chair as Dumbledore began.

'Narcissa, this is a pleasant surprise, how can I help you today?'

Narcissa began to explain all that had happened and by the end of her tale, the old wizard was clearly troubled.

'It always pains me when wizards and witches who hold such promise are seduced by the dark powers. Rest assured that if Draco chooses to return to Hogwarts we will do all we can to save him as it is not too late for him to realise the folly of his actions. But in the meantime we must get you to a place of safety. I will instruct the order to secure Malfoy manor as it will hopefully deny Tom another sanctuary and allow us to search for any additional items that Tom entrusted to Lucius over the years beyond the diary.'

Narcissa placed the briefcase on the desk and snapped open the clasps before she said.

'I took these from the secret chamber in the drawing room, Amelia's aurors never found them when the raid came. I'm not sure exactly what's there but hopefully you can find something useful amongst them. There were some artefacts in there as well but I didn't have time to take them as Draco's probably told the death eaters I'm a traitor by now. I warded the house to the best of my knowledge but I'm no curse breaker and I doubt it would take a determined attacker long to break through if Draco lets them past the original ward boundaries.'

Dumbledore glanced through the documents before he commented.

'Interesting, these could potentially be of great use to us, I will spend some time examining them in more detail and then present my findings at a special meeting of the order tonight. Now, I will get a message through to one of my members, an old friend of yours I understand and tell him to escort you to headquarters. You should be safe there for the time being, the building is a location you know quite well but I think you'll find it completely changed. Now, would the leaky cauldron do as a rendezvous point? So far the death eaters have not targeted any major public locations and so you should be safe moving around the area, use my floo as it will get you there in a matter of moments.'

Narcissa considered her options and thought that it would suit fairly well as she figured she wouldn't have too much trouble blending into the crowd passing through the pub as Lucius and to a lesser extent, Draco, had always been the public face of the Malfoy family.

'The cauldron should be fine Albus, I doubt anybody would recognize me straight away, Lucius was always the more well-known face.'

Narcissa watched Dumbledore write a short note and then walk over to his phoenix before attaching the note to the bird's leg and whispering to it. It took off and flew out of the open window and as it did, the aged headmaster said.

'Good, now when you arrive, ask Tom for a private table and ask him to let you know when a friend by the name of Victoire arrives, he will know what you mean. I will see you later tonight Narcissa, I had best contact Amelia and inform her of Draco's flight and of the information you have delivered to us.'

Narcissa got up and thanked the professor before bidding him goodbye and walking to the fireplace where a muttered incantation activated the flames and a pinch of the powder readied them. After a few seconds uncomfortable spinning, she exited the fireplace in the cauldrons main bar room and walked up to the landlord before she whispered.

'I'd like a private table please Tom, and can you inform me when a friend called Victoire arrives?'

Tom nodded and beckoned her to follow him, quickly leading her to a table cast in shadows where she could easily discern who was entering or leaving the pub while at the same time remain all but invisible herself. About ten minutes after she had sat down, a man entered the pub and began a hushed conversation with Tom and he inclined his head in her direction before he passed the man two drinks. It was only after the man turned away from the bar and began walking towards her, that Narcissa managed to see his face and figure out who it was.

'_Remus, Remus Lupin? I knew he was in the order in the first war, but why did Albus send him here to extract me? After everything that happened, I doubt Remus would have fond memories of me.'_

But despite her nerves, the wizard in question bore a smile on his face as he sat down at the table and greeted her.

'Cissy! Good to see you again, are you alright? Dumbledore didn't explain.'

Narcissa began to explain the final argument between herself and Draco and her flight from Malfoy manor much to Remus astonishment and sympathy.

'A pattern I have seen far too often, our enemies seduces those most vulnerable to Riddle's manipulations with the promises of revenge against those they think have wronged them and it is only once the victim has been exposed to what our enemy is capable of do they see their mistake. I'm sorry Cissy I really am, I taught Draco and while he had much of his father in him, I saw your influence too.'

'I don't need your pity Remus, Draco has chosen his own path and none but he himself can change that.'

Whatever he was about to say was cut off when two figures burst into the room firing Reducto curses into the ceiling, both were wearing full death eater regalia and one of them shouted.

'Don't nobody move, anybody moves and they're dead, savvy?'

Narcissa grimaced, 'damn, Draco must have been faster than I thought and Riddle must have sent assassins to stop me getting to your headquarters. Well I'm not going down without a fight, and if I remember you Remus, you aren't either.'

The two death eaters backed the crowd against a wall and began to search them, clearly looking for them both, luckily they obviously hadn't noticed Remus and Narcissa and he whispered.

'They haven't seen us and we've got a clear shot, stunning spells on the count of three, ready?'

Narcissa nodded and after easing her wand out of her dress pocket, she took careful aim as Remus muttered.

'1, 2, 3!'

Two simultaneous stunning charms were fired and the first found its mark and dropped the first of the would be assassins to the floor like a sack of potatoes, however the second went wide slightly and the other death eater slowly turned around and when he caught sight of them he said.

'Now we've gotcha, you traitor, you and your mangy dog and when Voldemort's done with you, we are going to have so much fun together.'

He drew his wand and began to cast stunning and disarming charms, obviously trying to take them alive. However he was clearly outmatched without his partner and obviously wasn't the most skilled wizard to begin with and after a few traded volleys, Narcissa got in a well-aimed bludgeoning curse which threw the wizard into the wall and knocked him out cold.

Narcissa and Remus made their way over to their fallen adversaries and removed the masks before Narcissa snorted.

'Crabbe and Goyle senior? Looks like Riddle's still strapped for people if this is all he could spare to kill me, no wonder they went down so easily as neither of them were particularly bright or very good duellists if I remember correctly.'

'Well we'd better get moving before he sends the big guns Cissy, I'll sort out these two and send a message to the ministry to come and clean up the mess.'

Putting his words to action, Remus conjured ropes and bound the stunned forms before he summoned his patronus and muttered.

'We got attacked at the cauldron by two eaters, can you send someone to clean up the mess? Be careful however, knowing Riddle he's bound to have other ambush parties hidden nearby as backup for the two we took out.'

Narcissa watched as the silver wolf ran off before she used her wand to disguise her appearance, before the pair walked up to Tom who was still looking somewhat shocked.

'Sorry about the mess Tom, aurors should be here in a minute to pick them up, but you'd better tell the people to watch it as there'll be more of them in the area.'

'Right you are Remus, I should have figured this would happen sooner or later, happened often enough last time. You're lucky those two weren't so bright otherwise you and Narcissa would probably be in serious trouble.'

Remus beckoned and Narcissa followed him out of the pub just as a detachment of aurors began to arrive, and after explaining what had happened the two of them found a deserted alleyway and Remus said.

'Right, let's get you out of the open before anyone else shows up, take my arm and I'll get you as close as we can to headquarters. Are you familiar with the Fedelius Charm?'

'Yes, I take it that's how Dumbledore has secured it?'

As Remus nodded, Narcissa stepped closer and a moment later the alleyway was deserted with the exception of an unseen watcher after two cracks announced their leaving. The watcher cursed as he realised his quarries escape would mean serious danger to his health but knew that to not report his news would mean his death.

Apparating away, he landed just outside the grounds of the home which had once belonged to Evan Rosier and which now was one of several locations being used to house his lord and master. Slowly walking past the wards and into the old house, he felt his fear grow and as he found his master sitting in his throne and knelt before it, he hoped that his punishment would not be too severe.

'What news my servant?'

'My lord I bring you bad news, Crabbe and Goyle were subdued in a duel with the werewolf and the traitor Malfoy, I followed them out of the leaky cauldron but before I could act they Dissaparated.'

He heard his master's anger at his failure and tensed for the pain he knew was coming and sure enough a moment later he felt the feeling of a thousand knives stabbing into his body and when the pain ceased he gasped.

'My lord, please, before they left I heard the werewolf mention a headquarters and the Fedelius charm, I believe he may have taken her there.'

'Yes, most likely, the old man would probably want her under his own eye and will undoubtedly desire to learn all he can from her. Such a shame Flint, a Black, a witch born of one of the most noble of bloodlines and she grovels before the muggle lover. But it matters little, in time she will pay the price for her treachery. You are dismissed Flint, send Severus to me at once.'

Marcus Flint gingerly got to his feet beginning to wonder if he had made a terrible mistake in joining the death eaters. Swiftly leaving his masters chamber before he was struck down he went to find his old potions professor.

Voldemort watched as one of his few new recruits hurriedly left his presence and seethed at the failure, in the ordinary course of events he would have struck Flint down for his failure but knew that he needed every one of his death eaters if he was to conquer the world. Undoubtedly that blood traitor, Bones would order Crabbe and Goyle pumped full of veritaserum, though fortunately they knew little of any real importance to his current plans.

Feeling the wound on his chest throb in pain again, he grimaced as he thought of his nemesis who had delivered the wound with her own hand. Reflecting back on that night he knew he had underestimated her and realised that before he could risk another major attempt on her life, he needed to restore his power and his army to its former glory.

Footsteps announced the entry of his most loyal death eater, the one who had flawlessly executed his last assignment and lay like a serpent coiled to strike next to the unsuspecting fool who had welcomed him with open arms so many years ago.

'My lord you summoned me?'

Voldemort smiled, 'yes Severus, it would appear that Crabbe and Goyle failed in their task and have been apprehended, while Flint failed to apprehend the target when he had the chance. Narcissa is now under the old man's protection and for the moment, untouchable. I want you to pay careful attention to whatever she reveals and then report back, we may need to alter our plans depending on what is revealed. If you find the opportunity, destroy anything that is removed from Malfoy manor with one exception, a diary, an old diary. If you find it, bring it to me unspoiled.'

Voldemort grimaced at another throb of pain as Severus said,

'My lord is your wound paining you? I shall bring you more potion at once.'

'Yes, please do so, to think that Potter would be capable of something so devious is a shock I must admit. But it is of little concern, she will die in time and when she does, nothing shall stand between us and supreme victory and then our vengeance shall be complete.'

His servant soon returned with a glass of the blood red potion and after drinking the foul tasting liquid he began to feel the pain ease, but knew that it was only a temporary solution and the permanent one would require something far more powerful.

'Once again you prove your loyalty Severus, three days hence I will summon my death eaters, there is much to discuss as it will soon be time to commence the next stage of my plans. But I must ask, what progress has been made?'

'Bagshot is still complying and has so far required very little coaxing, he has found several leads in the material we have seized for him to work with. But with as little material we have and only one researcher our progress has been slow. On your lordships other plan, that will take a long time to work on an effective strategy as the targets are extremely well guarded.'

'Yes that is indeed so, and these will be among the first topics discussed at our meeting. But I am pleased with your efforts thus far Severus and so long as you do not fail in your duties I shall remain pleased. You may leave, the old man may become suspicious if you are not at his orders meeting when Narcissa is presented.'

Severus bowed before leaving the room and heading out of the old house determined to finally see the day dawn when the smirking, pathetic excuse of a wizard sitting in the throne would lie dead at the feet of his loves daughter.

'_Lily, I will not fail you a second time, Tom shall die, I swear it.'_

Making his way into London, Severus soon arrived at headquarters and after changing his robes, he made his way into the kitchen where Dumbledore was waiting.

'Ah Severus, good evening, what news?'

Severus began to relate what he had seen and been instructed to do and by the end Dumbledore looked thoughtful.

'So it would seem that Tom is looking for something, some object of power much as Elizabeth told us of last year, and that is what Albrecht has been ordered to track down.'

'Yes, so far his other plans seem unchanged though he did say that he might do so at the next meeting based on what information Narcissa reveals to you.'

'The files contained mostly information on some of the commission's schemes, though they did reveal the whereabouts of some of Lucius's offshore holdings and locally laundered funds and some details of supply networks and contacts that Tom has used in the past. All quite valuable knowledge, and once the meeting concludes I will provide you with a summarised dossier of facts based on the information that you can leak to Tom without any real consequence to our war efforts.'

'Excellent, what of Blacks plans to annul Bellatrix and Narcissa's marriages?'

'The matter is to go before the wizenagmot a few days before the start of term, it should proceed without much trouble as the contracts did indeed contain clauses which have been broken by both Rudolphous and Lucius.'

'It would be best if we were to keep him ignorant of the fact as long as possible, even if we are forced to set up fake vaults with copied contents, if Lucius was trusted with sensitive material, it is highly likely that Bellatrix was as well. We are at a critical stage here Severus and if we are to bait the trap just so, our enemy shall need to be overconfident enough to walk into it.'

'Yes, though he may have been a Slytherin once, his blind lust shall in time be his undoing and we shall finally live out our days in peace.'


	7. Chapter 7

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: Time certainly flies and as near as I can figure, this series has now been in existence for a bit over 2 years. 2 years of writing and editing, 373,092 words (not including this chapter), 123 reviews and many follows and favourites have gone into it so far. But thank you to everyone and I hope you've all enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it._

Chapter 7: Call of Duty

A few days after the attack on Narcissa Malfoy who had now taken shelter with the order, Elizabeth was sitting over breakfast with the others when letters were brought in to them.

'The posts just come, probably your Hogwarts letters and about time too, they usually arrive much earlier than this.' Said Mrs Weasley.

Elizabeth took hers and noticed that the envelope felt a bit heavier than usual but quickly slit the letter open but strangely as she did so, a silver badge dropped out and landed on her place mat with a clinking noise. Picking it up and examining it, she noticed the engraved letter p but then looked up and around the table and watched as one by one, her friends opened their letters silver badges quickly appearing in Ron's, Hermione's and Fitzwilliam's hands.

Elizabeth was curious, '_Four prefects? Don't they only have two normally?'_

Looking down at the letter Elizabeth began to read:

_Dear Lady Potter,_

_Please note that the new school year will begin on September the first. The Hogwarts Express will leave from King's Cross-station, platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o'clock._

_I am delighted to inform you that you have been selected as a Gryffindor prefect, and therefore request that you proceed to the prefect's compartment where the head boy and girl will issue you with your instructions. Owing to the circumstances of the declaration of war Hogwarts has now expanded the office of the prefecture by recruiting two additional prefects per house and has expanded the responsibilities of the role. These duties shall also be explained at the briefing. I wish you luck in your position and in your classes during the new school term._

_A list of books for next year is enclosed._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Professor M. McGonagall_

_PS. You have been chosen for an additional vital role and Professor Dumbledore requests that you report to his office for a meeting once you and your fellow prefects have escorted the Gryffindor first years to the dormitory._

Elizabeth looked up as George was the first to react, 'ickle Ronnie the prefect.'

Mrs Weasleys' eyes snapped towards her youngest son who was holding the badge with a look of shock.

'Oh Ron how wonderful, oh you could be Head boy just like Bill and Percy. It's the first step you know.'

She swooped down on him and kissed his cheek just as Fred sighed, 'looks like our days of law breaking are over Forge, Ronniekins and his merry band will be all over us. But who else has been recruited to join the ranks of that august body besides our dear bookworm?'

Elizabeth saw Hermione blush and smiled as she listened to her friend, 'how did you know I'd get picked Frederick? Could have been Jane, Lavender or Parvati, or Charlotte, or Lizzie for all we knew?'

Fred grinned, 'as if they wouldn't pick you Mione, allow me to explain. Out of the six girls in your year first we have you, almost a spotless record, top of the school four years running and assertive enough to keep Ronnie and a lot of the others in line. Then we have Jane, just as smart and just as clean a record, but, and I mean no offence Jane, but you haven't quite got the same assertiveness as Mione.'

Jane waved it off, 'none taken Fred, you're right, and Mione deserves this more than me.'

Fred kept going, 'Lavender and Parvati, basically harmless and generally nice girls most of the time when they're not shooting their mouths off. But not really prefect material when you think about the traits the teachers are probably looking for. Next we have Charlotte who by rights would deserves this, only catch though is that if she got chosen, everyone would scream favouritism even though she would have been picked on merit. Finally we have our queen Lizzie, who through no fault of her own has probably caused more trouble than both myself and Forge combined.'

Elizabeth had been impressed by Fred's deduction and agreed with what he'd been saying about why certain girls had or hadn't been chosen but simply countered.

'Well it doesn't bother them Fred, I was chosen as well.'

'What? There's only ever two prefects, everyone knows that.'

'Not anymore,' said Fitzwilliam, 'I was chosen too, Professor McGonagall says it's because of the war.'

Elizabeth beamed, 'congratulations my lokal, pahvoth mu fent drun drem.'

Fitzwilliam drew her closer, 'wonder why booklists are this late? Normally they are far earlier than this.'

Everyone looked up as Sirius came in, dressed and ready for his day in the wizenagmot, and when he caught wind of the conversation he answered the question.

'A few things delayed the lists, board of governors mostly. Bureaucrats are a slow bunch when it comes to approving things out of the ordinary, but at least it's all sorted now. Say, who out of you lot got prefect badges this year?'

Richard answered, 'Lizzie, Fitzwilliam, Ron and Hermione, don't know about Su or Prince Charming as they aren't getting here until later today.'

Sirius pretended to look disappointed as he rounded on Elizabeth, 'but she could see the smile in his eyes.

'Well done Princess, congratulations, your mum would be really proud and your dad would probably have made some kind of amusing joke before Lily whacked him a moment later.'

'What about you?'

Sirius laughed, 'Dumbledore would have been daft to make me a prefect, Moony was the good boy and he got the badge, obviously they thought he could keep us in line. But still, I'm proud of you, I really am.'

He bent down and kissed her forehead before he said.

'I'm off to the wizenagmot to deal with the hearing to help get Cissy out of the contract, so I should be back a bit later depending on how it goes.'

Narcissa had a nervous look on her face, 'this has gone on long enough Sirius, finish it.'

With a nod he departed and after he left Mrs Weasley rounded on them, 'hand me those booklists, I'll go and do your shopping a bit later.'

Elizabeth looked at the list and noticed only two new books.

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5, _by Miranda Goshawk

_A wizards Guide to Surviving Combat, _by Alexander Tacticus

Neville commented on the books, 'whoever the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher is, they're not kidding around if this is what they're assigning.'

'How come?' Asked Ron.

'Because Tacitus's works are required reading at the auror academy, that's why,' said Richard. 'I know aunties still got her copies back at the Boneyard's library and I remember reading some of them when I was doing summer homework.'

As one, they all handed their lists to Mrs Weasley and left the kitchen, heading upstairs with the exception of Ron who Mrs Weasley had held back briefly, and Hermione who asked Elizabeth to borrow Hedwig to send a letter to her family.

When they had all settled down, Ron came back in grinning.

'She's going to buy me the new Cleansweep, which is so awesome!'

Jane turned to face him, 'there's more to being a prefect than the status Ron.'

'I know that Jane, but it's cool that I'll finally have a decent broom. Might even try out for the team since Oliver's gone, wonder who the new captain is?'

George grinned, 'probably one of the lionesses, no way would McGonagall give it to us and she's already made our queen a prefect, even you should know they almost never give anybody both badges, Cedric Diggory was a rare exception.'

Elizabeth waved it off, 'I don't want it, the other girls have had more experience and I think being a prefect will be hard enough, and they're saying they want me for something else as well.'

'Any idea what?' asked Fitzwilliam

'No, the letter just asked me to go to Dumbledore's office after we take the first years up.'

'Well only one way to find out, but will you tell us?'

'I'll try my smoliin, but a lot of what he tells me is classified, if only there was a way for me to teach you occlumency.'

'Couldn't you?'

'I can give you the books I used to learn it, but we really need a skilled legillimens to test your progress, that's how Professor Snape taught me.'

'Can't he teach us?' asked Charles

'I could always ask, worst he could do is say no I guess.'

Hermione came back in, her face still aglow as she examined the badge and sat down next to Fred, it was clearly a mark of the affection that Elizabeth had noticed between them in that Fred didn't flinch or react to an object he had obviously held in contempt, and instead he joked.

'Careful Mione, I'd hate it to see a witch as sweet as you turn into a female Percy.'

Everyone laughed, even Hermione before she reassured him, 'oh no I would never dare, and do you remember how stiff he was back then? No, after everything I've seen I think a more flexible approach is better for everyone. Say, whatever happened after last year? Haven't really seen Percy much here, and I'd never dare ask him.'

'Well, after the whole Crouch mess Percy got dragged in for questioning and they really let him have it as they reckoned he ought to have said something, in the end he got put on probation and was reassigned to a junior role in the DRCMC.'

'Oh that's a pity, I never minded him really but he's a bit too uptight at times.'

'Ah never mind, he's doing alright now and we figured it was best to leave him alone for now so he could get over it, course if he gets all pompous again we can always prank him to the max.'

Susan and Henry arrived a few hours later, both looking simply radiant as they walked into the room hand in hand. Once greetings were exchanged and the pair of them had settled into a couch, Susan's eyes caught Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam who were snuggled close together in the same armchair and she squealed.

'Oh Lizzie how wonderful! When did this happen?'

'Same day we got here actually, bit of a long story.'

Elizabeth explained to Susan and Henry what had been happening and by the end of her tale the two of them were amazed.

'Oh my, I can't possibly imagine how you must have felt when you held that letter in your hands with so many people all around you.'

Susan shuddered and even Elizabeth felt a shiver down her spine as the memories flashed before her eyes, feeling grateful as Fitzwilliam drew her a bit tighter against him.

Charles was the first to ask the question on everybody's lips.

'So how was Stormhold? What's it like? I mean there's so many myths and legends about the place, what's the truth?'

'Amazing, I don't think there are words to describe it, the whole country just feels so serene, so tranquil. There's no division between magical people and muggles and you can walk into a market and see a muggle haggling with a wizard to buy things, and then go a bit further and see the reverse. The other big thing I noticed was that the whole country seemed so, elegant. The two muggle world wars never came near Stormhold and so the place never really lost its elegance the way that England has. Here we see someone like Henry as being quaint in the way he talks and acts, but over there everyone acts kind of like him. But the really strange thing was that despite all the outside events that never touched the country, it isn't backward in the way society works. A lot of ideas and technology from outside have been brought in and adapted to suit the way of life over there.'

Everyone was spellbound as Susan related more of the way the people of the distant land led their daily life which when compared to a lot of the other countries worldwide made the place seem like a paradise. When Susan and Henry got around to opening their letters, they both found waiting prefect badges and Ron asked.

'Who do you reckon got the other pair?'

'Probably Hannah, and either Ernie or Justin,' said Henry.

'Justin, Ernie's just a bit too pompous and Professor Sprout would probably want someone the first years can relate to,' added Susan.

A few hours later, Mrs Weasley came upstairs along with Lady Longbottom, both levitating piles of books and a few other wrapped packages, but Ron only really had eyes for the package held under his mother's left arm and moaned in excitement as she handed it over.

'Don't get too carried away Ron, I want all of your trunks packed before dinner tonight as most of the order are arriving for a bit of a party we've prepared for you all. After all you've done and what you'll be having do so this year, you deserve it.'

'Lady Longbottom added, 'We'll be up early tomorrow morning as the ministry's sending us transport, after what happened to Cissy we're taking no chances and most of you have your duties to attend to and will need to set a good example. Neville, William, Georgiana, I expect all three of you to be prompt in the morning.'

The two witches levitated the piles of spellbooks and packages which separated to land before their owners before they left and as soon as the door shut behind them, Ron's hands worked into a frenzy as he ripped apart the brown paper and saw the broom that fell onto his lap.

'Oh cool, check it out, she really got it.'

'Nothing too good for ickle prefectkins eh?' said George as he ruffled his brothers hair.

Ginny got them back into some semblance of order, 'come on you heard them, and we'd better get packed.'

Everyone got out of their chairs and scattered around the house to track down their possessions and begin pack them into trunks. For a woman like Elizabeth who had come from a background where she owned very few personal belongings, she began to feel curious about where she had possibly got so many things as she spent most of the afternoon tracking some of them down.

Finally after a several hours of sorting through and packing clothes and Hogwarts supplies into her trunk, Elizabeth followed the others into the kitchen where Mrs Weasley had hung a big red banner over the heavily laden dinner table which was full of delicious looking food.

_Congratulations and Good Luck_

_Ron, Hermione, Elizabeth, Fitzwilliam, Henry and Susan_

_New Prefects_  
Order members were beginning to gather, Lupin, Tonks and Kingsley amongst them and Mad Eye Moody clunked inside along with Sirius, Mr Weasley, Percy and Bill. Elizabeth noticed a grin on Sirius's face as he made his way over to Narcissa and begin a whispered conversation which soon made the blonde witch very happy judging by the look on her face as she hugged her cousin.

Mrs Weasley was obviously in such a good mood she didn't even seem to mind Mundungus Fletcher's presence, though Elizabeth couldn't help but notice him cast surreptitious looks around the room before beginning a conversation with Fred and George.

Tonks came over to speak to Elizabeth,

'Prefect eh? Lucky you Lizzie, I never was one myself as Professor Sprout always said I lacked certain qualities.'

'Like what?

'The ability to behave myself.'

Elizabeth and those around her laughed while Moody cast his creepy eye over her and Fitzwilliam.

'Well congratulations, Dumbledore obviously thinks that you two can withstand most major jinxes or he wouldn't have picked you.'

Elizabeth didn't know what to say but was spared by Bill.

'Well whoever it was would have to be bloody stupid, if you trained with Tonks and Kingsley Lizzie, I doubt there'd be many who would be idiotic enough.'

'Thanks Bill, say, how's it going being back in London? Can't be easy after so long in Egypt.'

Bill had a serene smile on his face, 'no, you're right Lizzie, old grey London is a bit of a contrast to the deserts and tombs but there has been pretty good things about being back. I even ran into a friend of yours who just started at the bank.'

'Fleur?'

Bill grinned, 'I don't think I've ever met a more determined witch, both in terms of what she does at work and outside of it.'

Elizabeth smiled inwardly.

'_Mission accomplished Fleur.'_

Elizabeth could only say, 'tell her I said hi, but whatever you do Bill, don't go and disrespect her, we veela are a passionate race, but also a dangerous one to anger.'

'I'm not that daft, don't you worry.'

Mrs Weasley proposed a toast to them all and the crowd drank to them as the feasting and happy conversation continued all around. Making her way over to the table for some more food, Elizabeth's curiosity was aroused by the sight of the twins and Mundungus still in deep conversation and she moved a bit closer, but was soon seen by George who beckoned her over.

'It's ok Dung, we've got our own royal patronage right here, and she's backing us, so ten the lot then?'

'Wot, wiv all the trouble to get em? Sorry lads, not a Knut under twenty.'

'Careful, your mum might see you.'

'I doubt it, she's still trying to get our dear brother to cut his hair by the looks of it,' reassured Fred.

'True, but Moody could be watching you.'

Mundungus looked over his shoulder towards the old auror who was apparently deep in conversation with Kingsley and Tonks.

'Fair point lass,' he grunted, 'ok, you win you tight sods, ten it is if you'll take em quick.'

George passed over some coins and grabbed a bag of black seeds that seemed to be rattling, while at the same time remaining perfectly still.

'Venomous tentacula seeds, we've been trying to get hold of some as raw materials for a while as part of our new skiving snack box range. Only problem is they're a ministry restricted item and mum would skin us alive if we went anywhere near Knockturn alley. Dungs tries to drive a hard bargain but he certainly knows how to get his hands on stuff like this.'

The twins bowed before hurrying off to stash their valuable loot as Mundungus went back to the table, Fitzwilliam appeared at her side.

'What was all that about?'

'The twins were buying tentacula seeds from Dung, they want them to make some of their merchandise from, and he's the only one they know who'll deal in the things.'

'Dungs a bit dodgy, I hope they know what they're doing. I swear he's being eyeing up the silver every time I've ever seen him.'

'Such people have their uses my love, Dumbledore obviously thinks so or he wouldn't have let him join the order, and surely Sirius can keep an eye on his things. Besides, with the way he acts I doubt he'd care much if Dung took a few bits and pieces.'

Fitzwilliam laughed a little at this, 'very true my love, knowing Sirius he'd…'

Sirius, in a moment of infallible dramatic timing said.

'He'd what my lad? What have we here my boy? Lollygagging again?'

Fitzwilliam was somewhat flustered but Elizabeth saw right through Sirius and sighed,

'Will you ever be serious?'

Her godfather grinned, 'nope! But seriously, what we're you two being so secretive about, I hope you're not planning on dragging my goddaughter into a broom closet too soon boy or I'll introduce you to Padfoot.'

Fitzwilliam tried to regain his flow, 'I would never dishonour Elizabeth by doing anything she didn't want and we were just talking about Mundungus Fletcher. Bit of a security risk isn't he? I'm surprised he hasn't made off with half the dinner service by now.'

Sirius barked, 'it's alright William I was only joking, if anything I'd bet it'd be Lizzie dragging you into the broom closets. But you're right about Dung being a theft risk, only he's loyal to Albus and he knows all the crooks as he's one himself. He hears things the rest of us don't and some of it can be useful if you keep him away from the drinks cabinet and count your valuables and frisk him before he leaves.

Elizabeth had felt a bit embarrassed as Sirius joked, but the words did conjure a lot of appealing possibilities involving her and Fitzwilliam and deserted parts of the castle and she felt her veela instincts stir at the thought…..

Elizabeth said, 'grow up Sirius and find yourself a woman, really I'm serious, if you're this childish it's no wonder you're still a bachelor.'

He put his hands to his heart, 'ouch, you wound me my dear, Azkaban wasn't exactly rich in dating opportunities and my crazy cousin across the hall was somewhat of a passion killer.'

'Alright, alright, sorry Sirius, I didn't mean it like that.'

'It's ok, it's all in the past and there's people who'll help you get past the trauma that Azkaban will do to a person. I'm not lacking for companionship but my paramour asks that we keep things low key for the moment as we're both rather busy people. But back to you two, whatever you get up to, be responsible and discreet about it, as since you're both prefects they'll be watching you like hawks.'

Fitzwilliam was quick to reassure him, 'don't worry, we won't do anything stupid, but may I ask who the lucky lady is Sirius?'

Sirius grinned, 'you'll find out soon enough my lad.'

He left to head back to the other adults but was soon replaced by Mad Eye Moody who showed them both a photograph of the original order of the phoenix which was somewhat disturbing as Made Eye explained what had happened to the members who had died or vanished during the first war.

Lady Longbottom appeared at their shoulders and said.

'I'm going to sort out that writing desk now that Alastair's had a look at it and then I'm turning in, you two should do the same as it will be a long day tomorrow and you'll have a lot to do.'

Elizabeth watched her head out of the kitchen and after a short while, Mrs Weasley bade them go up to bed. After sharing a goodnight kiss outside Fitzwilliam's room, Elizabeth continued along the hallway but just as she was about to enter her own room she thought she heard distant sobbing.

Her brow furrowing in curiosity, Elizabeth followed the sound until she reached the drawing room where she found a horrible shock when she saw Neville. But it wasn't the Neville she knew, this figure was gaunt, had white hair and blank staring eyes and seemed to have been stripped of his essence.

'_This can't be right, I just saw Neville downstairs talking to Ginny and Georgiana!'_

Entering the room, Elizabeth was surprised to find Lady Longbottom, normally a witch who exuded such strength, slumped against a wall sobbing as she shakily cast.

'_Riddikulus!'_

Crack!

Fitzwilliam's body replaced the blank, gaunt Neville, an empty surprised stare in his eyes as he lay upon the ground and Elizabeth felt her heart lurch in fear.

'No! _ Riddikulus! Riddikulus!'_

Crack! Dead Georgiana, dead Elizabeth.'

Elizabeth looked down at her own body on the floor and said.

'Lady Longbottom, just step back, let someone else handle it.'

Attracted by the noise, Lupin came in with Sirius and Made Eye and took one look at the scene, quickly guessing what was going on before engaging and soon dispatching the boggart with a single loud 'ha'

Lady Longbottom burst into tears and Elizabeth felt her heart melt as she saw the great lady in such distress.

'Augusta don't.' said Lupin.

Both he and Sirius did their best to try and settle the elder witch down and soon she began to talk coherently.

'I couldn't bear so see Neville suffer his parent's fate, it destroyed Winston to see poor Frank and Alice like that. Neither could I live with seeing my little Georgie and William perish, nor you my dear, you and William deserve every happiness.'

She looked around at Elizabeth, 'I'm not sure if anybody told you what happened to my son and my daughter in law, it was just after Tom had been banished. A few renegade death eaters ambushed them and tortured them for information about where he had gone. I don't know how long they suffered under Bellatrix's sadistic ministrations but by the time the aurors arrived it was too late. Frank and Alice were left as little more than empty shells of the wonderful people they once were.'

Elizabeth was horrified, 'I had no idea, and I knew that they were attacked and incapacitated but I never knew of this, I'm so sorry.'

Lady Longbottom waved it off, 'easy now, it all happened years ago, it destroyed my Winston to see it, especially after he had only just lost his nephew Robert to the treason of Dimitri and he died a few years later of a broken heart.

'Couldn't St Mungoes do anything?'

'They've done all they can over the years, but the damage ran too deep and Frank and Alice retreated so far into themselves that no magic or potion known to wizardkind has ever been able to coax them back out.'

Sirius said, 'well Augusta, I don't know if this is any consolation but as of tonight the Lestranges and the Malfoys are both somewhat poorer, and once the goblins sort out the paperwork of sorting through their assets I'll sign the Lestrange contents over to you as you have far more claim than I do.'

'All the gold in the world can't bring them back Sirius, especially not the Lestranges blood money, you should know that, but I thank you. I'll keep it in trust for Neville and he can decide what he wishes to do with it upon his majority.'

Elizabeth asked, 'so the idea worked?'

'Yep, thanks to a couple of clauses in the contract which basically said that they weren't allowed to distribute Black money to any criminal organisations or allow them to take part in criminal acts. Lucy and Rudolphous breached their marriage contracts and now have to forfeit assets to the value of the dowry and give back any artefacts that were given by the house of Black. So basically we've taken both of them to the cleaners.'

'Wonderful, so what will happen now?'

'We don't want Tom to know about this as he might get paranoid and start moving things around that we might otherwise have had a chance to seize, and so we're arranging with the goblins to keep the vaults open and we'll put fake contents and booby traps inside. But Cissy's free to do whatever she wants and I'll give her the money I get off Malfoy so she can set herself up.'

Elizabeth smiled, glad that things had worked out so well.

'What will happen to any artefacts in the vaults?'

'Knowing the Lestranges and Malfoys, and my family, some of it's probably pretty nasty stuff so we'll get Bill and Albus to have a look at it all and sort through it, who knows what they've got stashed in there. But speculation won't do well now Princess, Albus has called you up for duty and you need your rest while you can get it.'

Lokal: Love

Pahvoth mu fent drun drem: Together we shall bring peace and order


	8. Chapter 8

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: Back to Hogwarts at last which is a relief as summers are a tricky section to write once cannon has been more or less totally discarded. This chapter will contain a few surprising revelations and I hope they're liked._

Chapter 8: Homeward Bound

Elizabeth emerged the next morning from a troubled night's sleep, visions of parties of death eaters kidnapping groups of muggles and muggle borns before sacrificing them in what appeared to be scenes of dark revelry; the face and figure of a sinister looking wizard bound in chains beneath a sky with no stars. A chilling phrase from the creator had crossed her consciousness just before she awoke.

'BEWARE, THE RENEGADE STIRS AND SEEKS RELEASE FROM HIS ETERNAL PRISON.'

Susan urged her. 'Better hurry up, Mr's Weasley and Lady Longbottom are both going crazy and reckon we'll miss the train.'

Elizabeth got ready as quickly as she could, the commotion going on around her clearly audible and from what she could make out, it looked like Fred and George had bewitched their trunks to save having to carry them and almost knocked Ginny down the stairs and set off Lady Black's portrait.

'COULD HAVE KILLED YOUR OWN SISTER YOU STUPID IDIOTS.'

'BLOOD TRAITORS, FILTHY HALF BREEDS, POLLUTING THE SHADES OF THIS ONCE GREAT HOUSE OF BLACK.'

Hermione came in with Hedwig perched on her shoulder and the snowy owl flew over and settled on top of her cage.

'Mum and dad just sent Hedwig back, are you ready to go yet?'

'Yes, I just need to put Hedwig in her cage, is Ginny ok?'

'Neville caught her and stopped her from falling, thank heavens.'

'When's our transport supposed to get here?'

'One hour, so we won't have long for breakfast.'

Elizabeth put Hedwig in her cage before taking her trunk and Hedwig downstairs as quickly as she could before piling her luggage with the heap in the hallway. Nobody was bothering with the old hag as the noise level would only wake her up again anyway. After being shepherded into the kitchen and eating the breakfast that was served up, Mrs Weasley told her.

'Never mind about your trunk or owl dear, one of us will bring it along, just get in the wagon when it arrives.'

Elizabeth couldn't see Sirius but didn't have time to ask where he had gone as he had been rather busy over the last few days and figured he'd tell her sooner or later. She was also curious as to why everyone was as frantic as they were that morning as Kings Cross station was actually only a few kilometres away and she doubted that security would be a major problem if a battlewagon was being sent for them. But in time, when Tonks came in and told them that the wagon was there, Elizabeth took Fitzwilliam's hand and walked out into the bright sunlight to find the APC waiting in the square. However there was an addition,

a soldier sat in the top of the big vehicle manning the mounted machine gun which had on all other trips been absent.

Turning to Tonks as they boarded the wagon she asked.

'Soldiers? With machine guns? Why do we need them?'

Tonks looked grim, 'A new directive our minister came up with a few months ago in cooperation with the muggle government. They've set up a new special anti-terrorist unit to work with the aurors to beef up security and fight against Tom. The first units are being deployed as of today and about time too, you might want to read this.'

Tonks passed her a copy of the Daily Prophet, the headlines blaring the message.

**Death Eaters Commence New Offensive, DMLE Suspects Return to Muggle Hunting**

**By Rita Skeeter, War Correspondent**

_Yesterday evening, the bodies of several muggles were portkeyed into Diagon Alley, all bore visible signs of torture at the hands of the death eaters and had been subjected to particularly gruesome fates. Dark marks were also found above several muggle residences across the UK and several bodies were found inside, all subjected to the killing curse. Minister for Magic Viscountess Amelia Bones and head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Rufus Scrimgeour issued a statement calling for calm and commented that this attack was likely retaliation for several recent successes enjoyed by the ministry against Tom Riddles forces. The minister has been criticised by some traditionalist elements within the community for working with the muggle government to tackle the crisis. But went on to explain that the hidebound thinking of earlier days will get us nowhere. She was quoted as saying "a closer relationship with Her Majesty's muggle government will give us access to resources that have previously been unavailable and that problems shared are problems halved and should help to keep the death toll as low as humanly possible among both societies." Information about the war has been prepared for the muggle media, and while the muggles have been told that the death eaters are muggle terrorists (muggles who carry out senseless attacks on innocent people to advance their own interests) they have been given advice on precautions to take, and special contacts with the muggle police have been set up to report sightings. We can only pray that the minister's new approach can prevent the wizarding world baring witness to the kinds of atrocities that were perpetrated against the muggle population in the last war._

A second article drew Elizabeth's notice as she perused the newspaper.

**DMLE and Muggle Ministry of Defence Authorise Creation of Task Force M**

_In further news related to our lead story, the minister has revealed that as part of her cooperative approach to fighting the war. A special task force has been established in conjunction with the muggle armed forces and Military Intelligence as a result of negotiations which have taken place over the past few months. The units aim has been quoted as being "to assist in securing our nation from death eater attack and provide greater offensive capabilities to the DMLE." To ensure that creatures such as Dementors are visible to the unit's non magical combat troops the task forces muggle personnel have been drawn from squib and muggleborn families. In exchange for the support from the muggles, the DMLE shall provide active magical capabilities to task force units. They shall also work to provide greater protection to leaders of the muggle government to thwart any plans Tom Riddle may have had to use the imperious curse to seize power, as well as provide consulting services and back up to certain muggle police units._

Elizabeth was amazed, '_So that's it, no more statute of secrecy?'_

She passed the paper to Fitzwilliam who asked almost the same question, 'what about the statute of secrecy?'

Tonks explained, 'the main proportion of the muggle population worldwide haven't been told the secret. Only a few heads of government and the commanding officers of the muggle soldiers and agents being deployed, all the rest already knew as they're either squibs or have family who are muggleborns. According to Arthur, the minister is apparently still in discussion with the muggles and the ICW about how it would be best to end the statute and probably will be for a long time to come.'

Elizabeth had another question, 'was it wise to leak this to the Prophet? You might as well have sent Tom an owl and he's really not going to like this.'

Tonks countered, 'we had to, you'll be seeing why pretty soon and anyway, that article barely scratched the surface of the full truth about the task force and what they'll be doing.'

The article was passed around with everyone showing looks of disgust at news of the atrocities and surprise at the new task forces role. Richard finally asked,

'How on earth did auntie get this past the wizenagmot and the council? The traditionalists would have tried to block it wouldn't they?'

Kingsley smiled, 'Our minister had help, the queen herself came to that convocation and made a rather inspiring speech and I was right there as part of her security detail, when the bill went to the floor only a tiny handful voted against it. I heard later that out of the thirteen councillors, only two voted against and those were Selwyn and Nott and two abstained, Greengrass and Davis.'

Henry commented, 'so neither of those houses have declared for a side?'

Both the houses were known for historically being neutral in times of conflict with individual members supporting one side or the other over the years but rarely did the whole families follow suit and had tended to act as cross benchers on the council with both sides currying their favour to pass bills.

Elizabeth commented, 'I think secretly they're on our side, if they'd gone with the dark houses the vote would have been 8/7 but by abstaining it was 8/5. Obviously they don't want to declare it openly until their hands are forced.'

The short journey ended and Elizabeth followed her escort into the packed train station noticing a pair of men in dark suits following them and whispered to Mad Eye.

'There's two men following us.'

'They're supposed to be there, the more the merrier I say.'

Reaching the familiar barrier between platforms nine and ten, everyone hung around nonchalantly and when nobody was watching, went through in pairs soon arriving on the platform. The sight which greeted Elizabeth's eyes was much unexpected though, while the Hogwarts express looked the same as it always did, it had obviously been retrofitted to survive a death eater attack from the skies. Two extra carriages had been attached, one towards the front and one near the back and both of them had what looked like anti-aircraft guns and mounted machine guns on the roof which were surrounded by sandbags.

'Bloody hell, what have they done to it?' Said Ron as he goggled at all the visible artillery.

Jane looked appalled, 'what were they thinking? It's a school train, not a military convoy.'

Mrs Weasley looked sad, 'unfortunately Jane, that train to you know who is full of valuable hostages. Undoubtedly Amelia wanted to make absolutely certain that doesn't happen but good grief, I wasn't expecting all this.'

The adults began chivvying them onto the train and bidding them goodbye, Lupin began.

'Well, look after yourselves, I know things are different but that doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy your lives.'

He shook hands with them all and hugged Elizabeth before stepping back as Moody began.

'Keep your eyes open, all of you, and be careful what you write in a letter. If in doubt, don't write something in.'

Mrs Weasley hugged them all and said, 'write, try and stay out of trouble if you can, especially you Lizzie.'

Tonks waved them off, 'try not to disgrace the uniform too much prefects.'

Everyone laughed and then hurried onto the train, soon finding a couple of compartments and stowing away their luggage before splitting up to get changed. Elizabeth felt a sense of responsibility as she donned the silver prefects badge for the first time, before she attached her OM and House medals to the front of her robe beside it. Feeling strangely ill at ease and slightly sad for leaving Jane behind. Elizabeth followed Fitzwilliam, Ron, Hermione, Susan and Henry towards the engine end of the train. The feeling of strangeness only increased when they had to pass through one of the guard carriages. This carriage wasn't divided into compartments like the others. Instead there was a single open plan space which had a ladder and a trap door leading to the roof, racks of stored rifles and shooting hatches along the walls, boxes of ammunition on the floor and some seats for the guards. A group of uniformed soldiers and aurors in their robes were idling about, some talking with each other, others scanning the sky for any sign of incoming attack. A few of the guards were watching as Elizabeth and her friends passed through but didn't say anything. The rest of the train looked to be the same as always, compartments full of students laughing, playing games and speculating on the coming year. Elizabeth saw familiar faces here and there, some waving over to her, others too engrossed in their conversations to notice, and two who glared daggers at her as she passed their compartment.

'_Draco, so he actually came back, that's a good sign. I might write to Narcissa later and tell her.'_

Finally after trekking most of the length of the train, Fitzwilliam opened the door of the prefect's compartment and let Elizabeth lead the way inside. Like the guards carriage, this was obviously designed to hold a large number of people and was about the size of five regular compartments, taking up most of the space in the carriage.

The new head boy and girl, a Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff pair that Elizabeth didn't recognise greeted them as they took seats.

'Hi, my names Eddie Stuart and this is Hillary Thomas, we'll get rolling once the rest get here.'

Elizabeth was curious, 'Thomas? Any relation to Anthony Thomas, the ambassador to Romania?'

Hillary smiled, 'he's my uncle, and he told me he'd met you but he didn't say much.'

Elizabeth elaborated, 'I was in the country with the ICW delegates and met him after the formal dinner.'

'Oh wow, I'd have loved to have gone to see something like that, you're really lucky.'

Eddie noticed more prefects coming in and began the meeting as he said, 'right, first things first we might as well introduce ourselves. I know all of you old hands but we've got a lot of new people starting today.'

Everyone began to introduce themselves and Elizabeth cast her eyes around the room and noticed that Hannah and Justin had indeed gotten the other Hufflepuff badges, while Ravenclaws had gone to Padma Patil, Anthony Goldstein, Mandy Brocklehurst and Terry Boot. Slytherin thankfully had been spared Draco and Pansy, the house of the serpent instead represented by Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis, Blaise Zaibini and Theodore Nott.

'_What, I thought Nott's family were death eaters? Unless he's like grandad and Sirius.'_

Hilary settled them all down, 'right, now we've all been introduced, let's get right to it. Joining the prefects isn't just a badge and a special bathroom, those are just perks. Instead, it's the task of being the eyes and of the faculty and the shepherd to our new flock of first years. The faculty have chosen all of you because they trust you to be the fair guiding hand they need among the student body to help keep Hogwarts running smoothly. Act like tyrants or Merlins gift and you'll see those badges vanish just as quickly as if you cast a charm on them, do good and you'll earn the gratitude and respect of the faculty which always looks good when you're looking for a job in a few years' time, and when you finish sixth year you'll be looked at carefully when the time comes for the faculty to pick the new heads.'

She continued on, describing the general patrolling duties and the powers of punishment prefects got normally.

Everyone had been silent while Hilary spoke, but then Eddie kept going.

'Right, thanks Hill, that pretty much sums up what we usually do, but thanks to a certain dark wizard who I don't need to name, we'll be a bit busier from now on. As dark as these times are, we all need to make sure that the castle is safe, only catch is that the devils are sometimes inside the walls. This is why it will be our task to keep your eyes open for anything that looks even slightly dodgy and then report it to either a teacher or the duty officer for our new guard detachment who'll be given an office near the charms classroom. Nine times out of ten things that look odd are usually just that, odd but harmless, but the tenth time could be the one that could be dangerous to you and everyone else. We've got the descendants of several of the death eaters among the students here and some of you will be assigned to follow the ones who've been the most militant in their views in the past.'

Nott stood up and stated, 'before anybody says anything or starts asking why I'm a prefect when my dad was a death eater, I have had nothing to do with them at any time and personally find everything about them disgusting. The only thing my father ever received from that barstard was over 200,000 volts of electricity when he wanted to test what his opponents spell would do.'

Elizabeth gasped and ducked her head before Fitzwilliam pulled her close and held her for a moment, before Theodore began to speak and she looked up.

'Potter, I don't blame you for it, even if it was you who cast the spell you were aiming at Tom and he deflected it. Besides, I hated my father he was a sadist and his whole pureblood superiority crap always made me sick, I sometimes think I was born into the wrong family.'

Elizabeth still felt guilty now that she knew who her unwitting victim was, but smiled weakly across at Theodore as he resumed his seat and Eddie said.

'Right, well thank you for that Theodore. It's always good to know these things, and now I know that if I pair you with Potter for a routine patrol, and I will sooner or later, you two won't try and kill each other.'

Hillary looked a bit uncomfortable but carried on as she passed envelopes which had the house crests to their respective prefects.

'Right, these have the dormitory passwords written inside, read them, memorise them and then destroy the notes. You'll get given new ones by your head of house whenever the passwords change, make sure everyone in your house knows what the passwords are. There's a bin in the corner if you want to do it now, just make sure you don't scorch anything.'

One by one, the prefects read the notes before burning them and dropping the flaming messes into the bin, Elizabeth opening hers and reading the contents.

_Mimbulus mimbletonia _

Following the others example she set the note on fire and dropped it in the bin before sitting back down.

Eddie got to his last point, 'right then, last thing I need to point out, is that by putting on that badge, a lot of your mates might start thinking you're letting the side down and becoming a squealer. We don't want that to happen so, whatever you do, don't get too overzealous. Most rules, just stick to the letter of the law but others can give you a certain amount of leeway based on the context. The two main rules we try and give a certain amount of leeway on are curfew and snogging, you'll get the hang of when to crack down and when to leave things be as you go along.'

There were some sniggers at this and he continued, 'like it or not you'll have to enforce that rule and the people you catch in the broom cupboard might be two of your mates. General rule of thumb is to make sure hands are visible and clothes are on and if it's getting late, move the couple on. Curfew is another one that needs a delicate touch, O.W.L.S and N.E.W.T.S require a lot of study and I guarantee that you'll run into people out late coming back from the library or from wherever they've been working. Usually we give people a grace period to get back if they've got a good reason to be out, but if you nab people out after curfew for no reason it's a different story.'

Hilary asked if there were any questions and after a few people asked about schedules and shift times the information was delivered that Eddie would hand new schedules on a monthly basis. The meeting broke up and he told them to try and patrol the train at least once every hour. After making their way back to the rear of the train, Elizabeth and her friends sat down in their compartments where Neville, Richard and Charles were waiting with Ginny, Jane, Luna and Georgiana.

Elizabeth sank into her seat feeling strangely worn out even though she hadn't actually had to perform any duties.

'Are you alright Lizzie?' Asked Charles

Elizabeth shook her head, 'no, the meeting wasn't all that bad but what happened during it…'

Hermione explained about Theodore and Jane looked sadly at her, 'he chose his path when he took the mark, knowing full well that it set him against society. You never knew who it was and it wasn't your fault, even Theodore said so.'

'True, but he could have told me another time, he didn't need to tell it to the whole meeting.'

Fitzwilliam said, 'that might have been better for you, but what he did was quite calculated, he must have realized that if he didn't say anything then everyone else would have been suspicious of him. Now tell me my love, when you cast that spell, who did you intend it to strike?'

Elizabeth answered instantly, 'Tom Riddle.'

'Exactly, Tom was the one who caused his death, not you. I have no doubt that if Nott had you down and helpless, he wouldn't have shown any mercy and if he'd lived, he would have taken his sick pleasures out on those poor muggles that died last night. Yes you killed a man, but you aren't a murderer my love. As a murderer would have shown pleasure in what had happened.'

Elizabeth gave a watery smile, 'I know, but that doesn't make it any easier.'

Luna added her piece, 'no sane person should find the act of killing pleasurable and the fact that you feel remorse for what happened proves that you are a good person.'

Elizabeth felt cheered by the two of them and knew it wasn't worth going back over an event that had been completely beyond her control, and when she left a while later to go on patrol she was much less apprehensive than she could have been when Theodore stopped her.

'Look Potter, Elizabeth, I'm sorry if I upset you back at the meeting, but it had to be said. Everyone knows you can't choose your parents and unless I said something to the others, nobody would ever trust me because of my dad. Tom Riddle stole my dad's soul a long time before your lightning bolt destroyed his body. I have nothing against you, but as you know Slytherins work best in the background which is why my friends and I never defied Ferret boy and Pug girl openly.'

He held out his hand and shook Elizabeth's and Fitzwilliam's before he bade his farewells.

'I'd watch out for the pug and the ferret if I were you, they've both been spoiling for blood since the end of third year and now the wars started they've probably deluded themselves into thinking that your downfall will be their return to glory.'

He headed up the train while Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam headed down, the implications of his warning crossing both of their thoughts. The train began to slow down before soon coming to a stop at Hogsmeade station. Elizabeth and the other prefects shepherded the first years out of the train cars and onto the platform which was slippery as it was raining slightly. Elizabeth looked around for Hagrid's form but instead of his form she heard a woman's voice in the dark.

'First years line up over here, please! All first years to me!'

The light of the lantern that was being carried by the witch revealed the form of Professor Grubbly Plank, the witch who had taken over Hagrid's classes while he was absent thanks to Rita Skeeters revealing of his giant heritage.

'Where's Hagrid?' Elizabeth whispered to Hermione.

'No idea, but we'd better get the kids moving and then get to the carriages.'

Once the last first year had assembled, the professor said.

'Thank you prefects, I will take them from here, the last carriages should be waiting for you and you can collect your new charges after the feast.'

Elizabeth began to worry about Hagrid as she followed the others to the stagecoaches and as Fitzwilliam handed her into the coach, he said.

'Don't worry Lizzie I'm sure he's fine, maybe he's been delayed getting back. Didn't you say Dumbledore sent him someplace on an assignment.'

'I hope you're right my love, Hogwarts just wouldn't be the same without him.'

'He wouldn't want you to worry about him, and I'm sure he knows what he's doing.'

Fitzwilliam reached over and pulled her into a kiss, and when he drew away after a long moment, Elizabeth said.

'I know he can look after himself, I just hope he can get back soon, because I fear that this year shall witness the beginning of the turning of the ages.'


	9. Chapter 9

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: Readership has been rising steadily and follows/favs have been going up on a regular basis which is always a good sign. But is it too much to ask for a few reviews? I think not._

Chapter 9: Of Tasks and Revelations

The Thestral drawn coaches trundled along the muddy road that lead to the distant castle, and as they drew closer to it Elizabeth began to feel far more at ease. Past the gates topped with winged boars the coaches moved and the familiar resonating power that Elizabeth always felt began to wash over her, a feeling of the castle seeming to welcome her back.

The carriages drew to a halt, Fitzwilliam hopping out first and holding out his hand to help her out. As Elizabeth walked through the doors she was greeted with the unpleasant surprise of coming face to face with Argus Filch the caretaker. The bitter, deranged squib was holding a secrecy sensor and was using it to scan everyone as they walked into the great hall.

He grunted as he waved the last student he had scanned in and then jerked his head to her, beckoning her forward and she did so, coming to a halt a few steps before him. Filch passed the rod up and down her front and back before he grunted.

'Move along girl.'

Glaring at the man she swore was mad, she passed into the candlelit great hall, the room was packed with students who were all abuzz with conversation as they exchanged news and greeted friends from other houses. Elizabeth noticed them staring at her as was normal but once again failed to see the signs that the boys were falling prey to her allure. Which was strange as even at the end of last year when she had a good level of control over the power, there had been several who had never failed to stare and boast as she passed. Sitting down at the Gryffindor table, Elizabeth scanned the staff table looking for any signs of the new Defence teacher but saw that the seat was empty. Professor Grubbly Plank occupied the seat that Hagrid usually sat in which meant that the first years were waiting outside the great hall, so whoever the new teacher was, they were late.

Charlotte looked towards Elizabeth and asked, 'where's the new DADA teacher? I know there is one or we wouldn't have been assigned a book.'

Elizabeth answered, 'I have no idea, Dumbledore will probably explain soon enough I suppose.'

Charlotte fell quiet just as the doors opened and Professor McGonagall came in leading a long line of scared looking eleven year olds.

Jane whispered to her, 'doesn't seem all that long ago that it was us out there doesn't it.'

Elizabeth nodded as the school fell quiet watching the aged wizard's hat sitting on the stool before the staff table.

In times of old when I was new

And Hogwarts barely started

The founders of our noble school

Thought never to be parted

United by a common goal,

They had the same selfsame yearning,

To make the world's best magic school

And pass along their learning.

'Together we will build and teach!'

The four good friends decided

And never did they dream that they might someday be divided,

For were there such good friends as Slytherin and Gryffindor?

Unless it was the second pair of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?

So how could it have gone so wrong?

How could such friendships fail?

Why I was there and so can tell

The whole sad, sorry tale.

Said Slytherin, we must bring the new

And teach them to forget the old.

Said Gryffindor, we must allow the bravery

To face the old and embrace the new.

Said Ravenclaw, we must allow the students the intelligence

To choose and strike the balance.

Said Hufflepuff, we must allow

Loyalty to build though fellowship.

These differences caused little strife

When they first came to light,

For each of the founders had

A house in which they might

Take only, those they wanted, so,

For instance Slytherin

Took only those wizards

Of great cunning just like him,

And only those of sharpest mind

Were taught by Ravenclaw.

While the bravest and the boldest

Went to daring Gryffindor.

Sweet Hufflepuff, she took the rest,

And taught them all she knew.

Thus the houses and their founders

Retained friendship firm and true.

So Hogwarts worked in harmony

For several happy years,

But then discord crept among us

Feeding on our faults and fears.

The houses that, like pillars four

Had once held up our school,

Now turned on each other and,

Divided sought to rule.

For a time it seemed that the school

Must meet an early end,

What with duelling and with fighting

With the clash of friend on friend

And the beckoning of brother against brother

And at last came a morning

When old Slytherin departed

And though the fighting then died out

He left us quite downhearted.

And for the longest time after the founders four

Were whittled down to three, never were the houses

United as they have been meant to be.

Now the sorting hat is here

And you all know the score:

I sort you into houses

Because that is what I am for,

But this year I'll go further,

Listen closely to my song:

Though condemned I am to split you

Often I worry that it's wrong,

Though I must fulfil my duty

And must quarter every year

Still I wonder whether sorting

May bring the end I fear.

Oh know the perils,

See the signs,

The warnings have been given

For Hogwarts is in danger

From external deadly foes

And all must unite within her

Or we will crumble from within

I have told you, I have warned you.

Let the sorting now begin.

The houses applauded the song, though many were whispering as Elizabeth like all the others had never heard the hat give the school warnings before.

'Expanded its repertoire a bit,' commented Ron, 'I wonder if it's ever given warnings before.'

'Indeed it has,' said nearly headless Nick, leaning through Lavender who winced.

'The hat feels honour bound to give warnings to the school whenever it feels…'

Professor McGonagall silenced the whispering students before beginning the sorting ceremony. Boys and girls with varying levels of fear on their faces being summoned and sorted by the hat before joining their house tables, Elizabeth doing her best to examine the faces of the new Gryffindors as she'd be at least partially responsible for their welfare for the next 3 years. Slowly the long lined thinned and as the last student, 'Zeller, Rose.' Was sorted into Hufflepuff, Professor Dumbledore got up to begin the feast.

Food appeared on the tables and everyone began to dig in happily as the noise level increased with the clink of cutlery and the sounds of happy students replacing the awkward silence from before the sorting. Charlotte asked the resident ghost who was sitting close by.

'Sir Nicholas, what were you saying before the sorting, about the hat giving warnings?'

'Oh yes, thank you for reminding me Miss McGonagall. I have heard the hat give warnings several times during periods of great strife and it has always given the same advice, stand together and be united.'

Jane looked towards the Slytherin table where Draco and Pansy looked to be rather isolated and had fewer people listening to their rhetoric.

'Hopefully that should be a little easier now that the truth about Salazar Slytherin has been made known to the world.'

'Indeed Miss Granger, I find him a most agreeable addition to our company and it is an honour to have one of our founders return at such a time in the turning of the ages.'

'I don't know why Dumbledore let Ferret boy and pug girl come back though, by rights they should have been arrested at Kings Cross and been thrown into Azkaban,' said Ron.

Hermione tried her best, 'neither of them are death eaters yet Ron, and you know what they say about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. Letting them come here means we can keep an eye on them, you remember what Eddie said at the meeting?'

The feast continued for a while longer before after the tables were cleared after dessert and Dumbledore stood up again for his start of term address.

'Well now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start of term notices.' He paused for a moment and then continued, 'first years please note that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students, and a few older students should take note of this as well.'

After the usual reminder about Filch's rules he got onto the topic Elizabeth was waiting for.

'We have two changes of staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures while Professor Hagrid is on a short leave of absence.'

Before the headmaster could introduce the second new teacher, the hall went completely dark for a long moment, and a few people screamed as a series of disembodied voices began.

'We the Marauders are proud, and also somewhat surprised to announce that Mr Padfoot has decided to take the job of Defence against the Dark Arts Teacher but wish that our dear Amy could pass laws to allow Mr Moony to resume the post instead.'

'Mr Moony is grateful for the sentiment, but very surprised at this development as Mr Padfoot is hardly renowned for his academic patience and hardly seems the type to be a Professor considering his record regarding most of the Hogwarts faculty during his time as a student.'

'Mr Prongs would agree with this statement if he were present to witness this day, but would probably point out to Mr Moony that Mr Padfoot would probably make a better Professor than the idiots who have held the post recently, with the exception of Mr Moony. Undoubtedly his daughter, Princess Prongslet would agree with this fact.'

Elizabeth was giggling under her breath, '_Wait til I get my hands on him, sneaky git, so this is what he's been so secretive about lately.'_

The hall's lights came back on and Sirius was sitting in the chair which had held four incumbents in the time Elizabeth had attended the school. Everyone was laughing and once they had calmed down, Professor Dumbledore continued.

'We are also delighted to Welcome Professor Black who will be our new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher.'

Sirius waved over at her and grinned as the school clapped, the Gryffindors much louder than the rest as Sirius's reputation was best known there. After the applause had died away Professor Dumbledore continued.

'Due to the outbreak of hostilities, it is the combined decision of the Hogwarts board of Governors and the Ministry of Magic to station a garrison of task force M soldiers and aurors to our school to act as an extra line of defence against the threat posed by Tom Riddle. But though we live in dark and dangerous times, we must all realise that life need not stop because war has begun and that change is a law of life and such change can often be a blessing. While these soldiers may not hold the magical powers you or I do and come from a section of our community that has traditionally been marginalised. This gesture of goodwill and cooperation between wizards and muggles marks a significant milestone along the road to a shining future where neither muggle nor wizard need fear each other.'

He paused as muttering broke out amongst the students, some seemed pleased, others thought the idea was mad while others looked neutral. He carried on with the next announcement which caught Elizabeth by surprise.

'It is also the will of the board of Governors and the faculty, to set up a student militia at Hogwarts to aid in the protection of our younger classmates in the event of a death eater attack. Any student with a good record in defence and good standing may join at the discretion of the new militia captain, and members will be given additional training to assist in keeping our younger classmates safe and helping Hogwarts to do her part to help in the war effort. Lists will be posted in all house dormitories for those who wish to join and I encourage all of you to consider enlisting.'

Fitzwilliam asked, 'so who is this new captain?'

Elizabeth sighed, 'me, I bet that's what Dumbledore wants to talk to me about later, I don't want to boast but after last year, I'd say I am the best at Defence, at the very least out of our year.'

Fitzwilliam shook his head and squeezed her hand, 'your modesty is one reason I love you my dearest Lizzie, but you are right, you are the best, but not just out of our year.'

Dumbledore dismissed the hall and Elizabeth, Hermione, Ron and Fitzwilliam came together and Fitzwilliam said.

'First years to me please, come this way.'

The new batch of Gryffindors shuffled towards him as the student body exited the hall all around them, and once the traffic by the doors had slacked off a bit Hermione bade.

'Ok all of you follow us and keep up please, it's very easy to get lost at first.'

They led the youngsters out of the hall with the six and seventh year prefects, Hermione and Ron taking the lead while Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam stayed towards the back of the line. After leading the line of small boys and girls up the stairs and through the halls and trying to point out a few landmarks along the way, they entered the common room and Elizabeth called them to a halt.

'Right then, now we are all here, my name is Elizabeth and this is, Fitzwilliam, Ron and Hermione.' Elizabeth pointed them out one by one, before introducing the two sixth and seventh year prefects each prefect nodding as she did so before Elizabeth continued.

'Now for some of you, today was a day you knew would come eventually, for others it was a surprise just as it was for me. Because it wasn't that long ago I was as new to this as you all are now. But if you do your best and try not to cause too much trouble you'll soon find that the time goes very fast.'

Elizabeth told them all about the basic rules and pointed out the dormitories and gave the advice of following older students, noting landmarks or asking prefects if they didn't know where they were going.

She noticed that her audience were all looking sleepy, and so decided to finish up before any of them fell asleep where they stood or sat.

'I'm sure you'll all fit in here quickly enough and so unless anybody has any questions or anything to add I won't keep you here any later. So goodnight and good luck, your luggage should all be by your beds.'

None of the first years had any questions and they all headed up the two staircases before Hermione praised.

'Handled like a pro Lizzie, wish Percy had done the same for us when we were first years, would've saved us from trying to get into the third floor corridor on the first day.'

Jane added, 'I don't know, the twins might have led us astray out of mischief if we'd asked them for directions.'

Said Weasley twins chose their moment, 'we would never do that to ickle firsties.'

'Especially not ones including our own brother, our queen, Minnie's own daughter, a cute bookworm, or you dear Jane.'

'This vile crime of corrupting firsties that you imagine us capable of shall never take place.'

Hermione was blushing but smiled, 'all right, that's enough boys.'

Elizabeth yawned, it had been a long day and she remembered that it wasn't over yet.

'I should probably go see Professor Dumbledore and Sirius, that sneaky man, I can't believe he hid that so well.'

'He a teacher, I would soon call his mother a wit.' Joked Fitzwilliam

Elizabeth and the others laughed and she sighed, 'I'd better go, don't want to keep them waiting too long for me.'

She pulled Fitzwilliam close and kissed him to the accompaniment of a few wolf whistles before she left the common room and made her way through the halls of Hogwarts. When she reached the gargoyle guarding the staircase it moved without her prompting and she stepped onto the ascending staircase before knocking at the door.

She was bade to enter and so Elizabeth opened the door and walked in to find Professor's Dumbledore and Snape as well as Sirius and Salazar. But also there was also an auror that Elizabeth didn't recognise and an officer from the new garrison protecting the school.

Sirius grinned at her, 'hope the surprise wasn't too much for you Princess?'

Elizabeth smiled, 'never saw you as the teaching type Sirius, or is it Professor Black now?'

Sirius made a face, 'that makes me sound a million years old, Sirius is ok, at least in private.'

Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat, 'Elizabeth, please have a seat and we can begin. I trust the first years were no trouble?'

Elizabeth shook her head as she sat down, 'no sir, but it's only the first day, plenty of time for them to get into trouble once the shock and awe wears off.'

Dumbledore smiled at this as Fawkes flew from his perch and settled on Elizabeth's knee and she began to stroke the crimson plumage.

'Good, very good, but I didn't summon you here to discuss the mischief of first years. No doubt you have been curious of the addition to your letter which stated I have an extra duty in mind for you this year.'

'Yes, I have sir, does it have anything to do with the new militia that you announced?'

'Indeed, our new militia will need somebody to lead it, somebody who has faced battle and survived. Somebody who can be trusted to do what is necessary to keep our younger students safe in the event of an attack.'

'Why me sir? Why not one of the seventh years?'

Professor Snape interjected, 'because Elizabeth, it may have escaped your notice, but for the past four years, you have consistently beaten everyone in every defence against the dark arts exam and have demonstrated your skills in the area more times than any of us feel comfortable about. Your training last year during the Triwizard tournament put you on a par with any alumnus of this school and would equal an auror midway through basic training. Your raw power is off the charts and your skills in combat are superior to any student in recent memory. To put it simply, you are the best we have and when we made the decision to do this, your name was at the top of a very short list of acceptable students.'

Elizabeth was stunned, she knew she was good, but she didn't know she was that good and sighed in resignation as she knew she couldn't argue.

'Alright, so what do you want me to do?'

Sirius grinned, 'First thing to do will be to find people willing to fight by your side, as many as you can, preferably fourth years and up. Then train them as best you can, myself and Professor Flitwick will do what we can to help and we'll offer extra credit to those who join as everyone will probably be learning a lot by joining you.'

Professor Dumbledore turned his attention to the officer and the auror who were sitting nearby and had been silent so far.

'Elizabeth, let me introduce master auror Edward Truncheon and Colonel Thomas Finch Fletchey.'

Elizabeth's eyes turned to the Colonel and noticed a lot of similarities about the face when she thought of Justin, and so asked.

'Any relation to Justin sir?'

The Colonel smiled, 'yes he's my son actually, he's told me, the Mrs and our daughter a lot about you during the summers and he's said a lot about this place. I never thought Mary or I would ever actually get to see it, even though our Angela will be coming in a few years' time.' The soldier's eyes darkened as he continued, 'but I wish it was better circumstances than an active deployment bringing me here now, I've lost a lot of good mates over the years. As terrible as the conflicts I've seen were, least when I was fighting out there, my kids were nowhere near the front lines.'

'Quite so Colonel, war is always terrible waste, but even worse when ones family is close to danger' said Dumbledore.

Edward Truncheon had the seriousness and the air of mild paranoia that seemed to be a standard feature of the older wizards who had seen active service in the first dark war. Though in looks, when compared to Mad eye Moody he could have been an actor or a model with only a few visible scars and no missing body parts.

'Potter, it's an honour. Alastair, Kingsley, Jamie, Tonks and Amelia have all told me a lot of good things about you. I just hope they're true, because right now we're going to need everybody who can hold a wand, or a weapon to be ready to fight at a moment's notice. I know you can fight, I was there at Little Hangleton that night, but how well can you lead?'

Elizabeth was rather taken aback, '_Good question.'_

'I'm not sure, people usually listen to me but I've never tried leading people into a full scale battle before.'

Salazar floated closer, 'with any luck, you shouldn't have to at all, but we will do our best to prepare you for the day that it may become necessary. Tom is desperate, and I'm afraid that this school would be far too tempting a target for him to ignore.'

Professor Dumbledore grimaced at the ghosts words as did the others but Elizabeth knew that Salazar was right as he continued.

'Though the other founders and I built this castle to defend ourselves and our students from muggle aggression, it is just as capable of withstanding an assault from magical enemies.'

'Has it ever happened?' asked Elizabeth.

'Yes, on two occasions, both assaults were instigated by English dark wizards, once in the mid 1500's and the other in the early 1800's. On both occasions, the attackers were stopped before they could breach the wards. The details are in Hogwarts a History if one knows where to look for them.'

Colonel Finch Fletchey asked, 'other than that though, no one has ever actually attacked the castle?'

Salazar grinned, and the cunning look in his eyes made him appear almost feral, 'I designed many of the wards placed here myself and I had a lot of influence over the selection of this spot to build the castle. Even in the past there were few settlements close to this site, we are surrounded by high mountains and the forest contains many dangerous beasts. Few muggles have ever come close to Hogwarts, even the witch finders. Those few who have, have been deterred by our wards. Alas that Tom represents a foe without precedent, as his knowledge of the castle and its workings are matched only by few who have walked these halls.'

'Not quite old man,' said Sirius, 'the Marauders and I came fairly close to exploring most of the castle and grounds. I know them well enough to have a pretty good idea of how Tom might plan to attack.

Elizabeth had been thinking as he spoke and then thought of Peter Pettigrew, 'the secret passages Sirius? But Tom will learn you're here and he'll realise that we've predicted that since Peter would have told him about them.'

'True, but that's one point of entry we can cut off from him. The more points of entry we can block, the more we can force any attacking force into the open. In the open, the attackers will be more exposed to counter attack.'

Colonel Finch Fletchey looked impressed, 'I like the way you think, could have used you a couple of years back.'

Sirius waved him off, 'teaching's about my limit, anyway this is Hogwarts. We had seven whole years to learn what we did, I just hope we can do some good with it now.'

Professor Snape quipped, 'I have now seen it all, a marauder considering the needs of others before their own.'

Sirius glared at him, 'how can you even joke about that Snivellous? We're in the middle of a bloody war for god's sake. What's done is done, even you have said that.'

'Severus, Sirius, enough, I think that will be all for tonight. Elizabeth, there is a badge on the desk, take it, it's the official captains badge. Begin recruiting those who would be prepared to join the militia, we will work on finding a suitable location for you to use once we have an idea of the numbers. I will summon you in a month's time to discuss progress. Now I'm sure you need your rest, tomorrow is your first day of your O.W.L year, a critical time in the education of any young witch or wizard, even one as gifted as yourself.' Said Professor Dumbledore.

Elizabeth rose from her chair as Fawkes flew back to his perch and took the silver badge from the desk, it looked about the same as her prefect badge with the letters MC engraved in the centre. Pinning it to her robes, Elizabeth left the office and made her way back to the common room which was all but deserted.

The other fifth year girls were already sleeping, and so Elizabeth got ready for bed and soon joined them in slumber as it had been a long day and it seemed that the year to come was sooner or later going to follow the pattern of danger which had long followed her.


	10. Chapter 10

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: We've almost hit 1,000 readers which is nice, but what would be even nicer would be a bit more feedback. Having finished more or less finished TAFE for the time being, I've now got another 3 weeks roughly of spare time and so I can try and speed up on updates._

Chapter 10: Professor Black

Elizabeth woke up the next morning feeling that she had a Herculean task in front of her with the new job of militia captain and hoped that those who decided to join would be doing so for the right reasons and not just out of a desire for glory. Just as Elizabeth had finished donning her uniform and attached her badges to her robe, Hermione asked.

'So they really did it? Put you in charge of the militia?'

Elizabeth sighed, 'they did and I can't argue with their reasoning as to why they chose me. We're going to need to put the word out to the others, if I'm going to do this, I want my troops joining for the right reasons and I don't want a pack of hormone charged hounds chasing glory and girls. In battle they're probably the biggest liability.'

Hermione, Jane and Charlotte smiled sadly at her as Charlotte added.

'Well we'll all join wont we?' The other girls all agreed and Elizabeth smiled as Charlotte continued. 'Dumbledore said you've got the discretion of choosing your recruits yes? Well that means, we can help you go through the lists and weed out the complete mudlins, and how'd you put it? "Hormone charged hounds".'

The others laughed before Jane said.

'We should probably go downstairs before Ron starts eating the furniture in the common room.'

Elizabeth laughed at the image before she asked, 'I thought he'd calmed down since he started dating Luna?'

'He has, I've noticed that he's a lot neater about his person and more enthusiastic about learning, but in essentials he is very much as he ever was,' said Hermione.

The Gryffindor fifth year girls all laughed before they picked up their schoolbags and made their way down the stairs where they met the boys who had been waiting for them. As Elizabeth passed by the well-worn notice board by the portrait hole, Hermione stopped them when she said.

'What are they doing? They'd better not be doing anything daft with this.'

Elizabeth looked and noticed the sign that had been put up.

GALLONS OF GALLEONS!

_Pocket money failing to keep pace with your outgoings?_

_Like to earn a little extra gold?_

_Contact Fred and George Weasley, Gryffindor common room,_

_For simple, part time, virtually painless jobs._

_(We regret that all work is undertaken at applicants own risk.)_

Hermione asked, 'can they do this?'

'I don't think there's a rule against it, they aren't stupid,' said Fitzwilliam.

'I'm still having words with them, crazy fools,' she finished in a huff.

Elizabeth was heartened to see a list which had been pinned up besides the Weasley twin's sign which was for people wanting to join the militia already had quite a number of signatures on it.

Richard grinned, 'we saw most of the sixth and seventh years sign as they were leaving, and I doubt you'll be having much trouble finding recruits Lizzie.'

'Quality over quantity Richard, I'd prefer a platoon of disciplined soldiers to an entire legion of idiots in it for the glory.'

As they moved down the hallways towards the great hall, Elizabeth swept her eyes over the crowds of students, she saw the usual emotions of excitement and anticipation but also a minor undercurrent of fear amongst those around her. As they all entered the great hall and headed towards their seats, Elizabeth looked towards the staff table but again saw no sign of Hagrid though she did spot Sirius who was deeply engrossed in a conversation with Professor Flitwick.

The ceiling seemed to echo her pensive mood and was a raincloud grey with patches of sunlight trying to break through.

Just as Elizabeth sat down and began to reach towards the platters of food and drink, Angelina Johnson came walking towards her.

'Hi Lizzie, good summer?'

Without waiting for an answer, she continued. 'I've been made quidditch captain.'

Elizabeth smiled, 'that's great,' glad that Angelina had got the position as she thought that she'd do a good job without being quite as overzealous as Oliver Wood.

'Anyway, we need a new keeper and I'm holding tryouts on Friday at five, I want the whole team there so we can see how well the new player fits in.'

'Alright, that shouldn't be a problem, I've got autonomy on the militia and I doubt Eddy would schedule patrols over the top of quidditch practices.'

'Thanks Lizzie, oh and I put my name on the list, so did Alicia and Katie, just tell us when you want to start on that.'

'Will do, but see you on Friday.'

Angelina left and once she had gone and breakfast had been dished out, Charlotte began.

'I forgot about Wood graduating, that'll make a lot of difference as he was a pretty good keeper.'

Elizabeth remembered when Ron had gotten his new broom and asked, 'didn't you say you'd try out this year Ron?'

Ron, who had been looking towards the Ravenclaw table jerked up and said, 'hmm, oh right, yeah I think I will, Charlie and the twins always made me keep when they were training in the summers. I'm not sure if I'm as good as Wood but….'

Charles began, 'well, Wood would be a hard act for anybody to follow Ron so go for it, Luna would be proud if you do.'

Ron grinned, 'good point.'

The daily mail delivery arrived, but the Daily Prophet contained no news of any real importance, much to Elizabeth's relief as she skimmed through it just before Professor McGonagall began to hand out timetables.

'Oh great,' mumbled Neville a few seats down, 'Binns, Snape and Trelawney all in the one day?'

Ron and Richard groaned in sympathy as they examined their own timetables and Hermione murmured, 'you should have given it up and picked something useful like arithmancy.'

Ron didn't argue with her but said, 'I wish Fred and George would hurry up and finish those skiving snackboxes.'

Said wizards chose that moment to arrive and Fred began, 'do mine ears deceive me, or are prefects considering skiving lessons?'

Ron thrust his timetable at his brother, 'come on and take a look, that's the worst Monday ever with the exception of Sirius.'

Fred looked down, 'fair point, you can have some Nosebleed Nougat free if you want it.'

'Why's it free?' asked Ron suspiciously.

'No antidote yet,' said George.

'I'll take the lessons.' Said Ron.

'Speaking of your merchandise, I want a word with you two, what do you think you're doing advertising for testers on the common room noticeboard?' asked Hermione.

Fred saw the look on her face and tried to placate her, 'there's no rule against it my dear bookworm, and everything we're testing we've already tried on ourselves. These trials are just to see if everyone reacts the same way before we start selling our products to the masses.'

Hermione sighed, 'alright, if you're sure it's safe. But I swear, if anybody ends up in the hospital wing….'

Fred grinned, 'that's my favourite prefect, don't worry it won't happen. But fifth years a bad one if you're serious about the exams. Half our year had minor breakdowns coming up to the tests, tears and tantrums. Least we can do is to try and tailor some of our goods to help relieve the stress.'

'Just where did you get all the gold you needed to develop all this?'

'Royal patronage, we're going to make ourselves and our benefactor a wagon load of cold hard cash, over and above her generous contribution,' said George.

'Surely not,' said Jane, 'when did you two meet the queen?'

'Back in first year, come on Gred, if we're early we can probably sell some extendable ears before Herbology.'

They soon left, Fred waving to Hermione before the object of his affection asked, 'why would the queen invest in their products?'

Elizabeth sighed, 'I gave them my Triwizard winnings, I didn't want to be in that wretched tournament and it seemed like the best use for the money as their need was greater than mine. You can't deny that those two are pretty smart at what they do, and they're great businessmen. They know their market and they know how to sell their products. Besides, I think they'll be a good investment and they promised me a 25% stake in their company.'

Ron was astonished, 'blimey! So that's how they got it, I forgot they call you their queen.'

'Is it true that this year's important because of the exams?' asked Jane.

'Oh yes, quite so, they affect which NEWTS you can take and what jobs you can apply for, Louisa and Caroline were both pretty clear on that when they told me about it. Apparently our head of house will give us career advice later this year as well,' said Charles.

Charlotte looked at her watch, 'we'd better get moving, we don't want to be late.'

History of magic was by common consensus, the most boring subject on the Hogwarts curriculum with Professor Binns being able to send a full classroom to sleep within ten minutes. He never varied on how he taught the subject and few had the ability to stay awake, Elizabeth could only just manage it and had so far learned most of the material from the course book.

After an hour and a half's droning on giant wars they left the room and headed for one of the castle courtyards barely awake and tried to wake up during the break by discussing the career advice session.

'Does anybody know what they want to do after Hogwarts yet?' asked Elizabeth.

Fitzwilliam was the first, 'we both have our duties on the wizenagmot my love that will take a lot of our time. Also we will have to manage our family's business interests, investing in the twin's was a good start.'

Elizabeth smiled at his praise just as Ron began, 'It'd be cool being an auror, or going pro at quidditch.'

Richard looked thoughtfully at Ron, 'know what Ron, I bet you'd make a decent quidditch coach, what with your chess skill and a passion for quidditch, you'd be good at that.'

Ron looked intrigued, 'that'd be cool, and I doubt I'd be any worse than Boris Katter over at Chudley, stupid idiot.'

Hermione was smiling but then went serious, 'I know I was being silly about house elves last year, but they really do get a raw deal, I'd like to join the DRCMC and try and improve conditions.'

Richard grinned, 'my family have been at the ministry for centuries and since I'll be the next earl it's expected that I'll work in the law. I'm not sure if I want Aunt Amelia's job, but it'd be a good thing to try and do something useful to help her.'

Jane added her piece, 'I thought I'd apply for healer training, I don't think I'd be the type to be an auror but I want to do what I can for the war effort, and there'll always be a need for healers.'

'You'd make a great healer Jane, you've got just the right kind of personality and you're pretty good with the key subjects like potions and charms,' said Charles.

Jane was beaming at this before she asked what Charles wanted to do and he replied.

'I've got family expectations as well, especially since dad got made the senior undersecretary. Despite all the progress that's been made, to really repair our society the efforts are going to take years yet. I want to do what I can to help with that.'

Elizabeth was impressed, '_A worthy ambition and one he deserves every bit of success on.'_

Charlotte was next, 'no McGonagall has ever turned their back when danger threatened their lands or those around them. I don't know how long this war's going to last, but I'm going to join the aurors if I can. These lands belong to everyone and I am not letting Tom muscle in and ruin them.'

The bell rang signalling the end of break and as Elizabeth led the way down the stairs towards Potions, she couldn't help but admire the selflessness of her friends the reasons they had chosen for their respective career goals. When Elizabeth and the others arrived outside the dungeon she was brought back to the present by Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson who were both glaring at her.

Pansy was the first to launch into a tirade, 'Potter, do you feel safe? Cowering behind mudbloods and squibs, while we the chosen march on to victory. Enjoy all this while it lasts, soon these stones will be stained with the blood of the filth who infest this place as our lord takes all that is rightfully his and destroys all who dare to resist.'

Elizabeth sighed as she looked towards her two foes, ' Pansy, Draco. Neither of you are beyond redemption as you are not truly evil, not yet. But the more you listen to the lies spewed forth from that fool, the more you risk being seduced by the darkness. That path can have only one outcome for you both, ven hi los nau vis nunon inaak wah dinok. If Tom succeeds then the world shall be destroyed by a force he cannot possibly comprehend, annihilating every man woman and child on this planet. You two may be idiotic enough to believe in the pureblood rhetoric but I doubt that even you would be dumb enough run that risk. The power that sees all is absolute.'

Everyone had fallen silent, and even the Slytherins who were loyal to the dark families were looking scared before Draco responded.

'If such a power exists, then let him come down and face our lord in battle. Let us see his so called absolute power.'

Pansy was sneering as well, 'What evidence has ever been shown of what this power can do? Believe in this "power" all you like, it will not save you when our lord has you at his mercy.'

Just as Snape was coming towards them, Elizabeth finished, 'and when your so called lord tortures or kills you for even the most trivial mistake, will you finally admit your mistakes? When the apocalypse arrives, would you finally admit that Tom is merely a pretender? Your fates are in your hands, choose wisely or you will soon meet your makers.'

Nobody was moving as Elizabeth traded words, but Snape put a stop to the verbal duel with the command.

'That's enough, inside, all of you.'

As the students swept into the classroom, Snape looked towards her and Elizabeth said to him.

'The warning has been given, their fates are now their own.'

Snape nodded solemnly, 'That was a noble thing you just did, but I doubt they will heed your warning.'

As the class settled down, Snape began his lecture.

'Before we begin our lesson, I think it best to remind you that next June, you shall sit an important test, which shall prove how well you have learned the art of mixing magical potions. I expect your best efforts as I only ever take the best into my NEWT classes and whether or not you choose to continue in this subject, I expect all of you to complete the OWL to the best of your ability, as many careers require a competency in potions.'

He gazed around at the students, all of whom were paying attention as he continued, 'today we shall commence with a potion that is often a test on the OWL, the draught of peace. A draught which calms anxiety and soothes agitation, be warned that this potion is a delicate one and mistakes can prove deadly to the drinker. The ingredients and method are on the blackboard and you will find all you need in the store cupboard, you have one and a half hours, begin.'

He waved his wand and Elizabeth went to the store cupboard to collect what she needed before beginning to set up her equipment. As Snape had warned, the potion was incredibly delicate with a lot of fiddly steps required to brew it. Elizabeth had always been a fair brewer and by the end of the lesson managed to brew the potion well enough, though her potion wasn't quite the same shade as Hermione's. As she handed a sample to Snape he remarked.

'Excellent work Elizabeth, a fine effort and a perfectly good potion, though perhaps you may have been a few seconds early in adding the syrup of hellebore.'

Elizabeth smiled and left the dungeon after copying down the homework with the others after she packed up her equipment and as she sat down for lunch, Fitzwilliam praised.

'You did really well my love, even if it wasn't perfect that would have still got you a good score.

'Well, I never had too much trouble at potions, hopefully it stays that way.'

Elizabeth passed around the dishes baring the food and spent most of the lunch hour feeling quite calm and confident about the year's classes. The bell rang and she kissed Fitzwilliam goodbye before she whispered.

'I'd better go my love, time to see the human dragonfly's latest dramatics. I'll give her five minutes before she predicts my untimely demise.'

Fitzwilliam frowned, 'I really don't know what Dumbledore sees in her to be honest, but at least you'll have Charles and Ron with you.'

Elizabeth smiled sadly as she pressed a kiss to his cheek and then led the way to the north tower, soon arriving in the room which always made her feel lightheaded with the copious amounts of strange perfume. After an overly dramatic introduction and a lecture about how she thought exams were immaterial, they were told to read a book on dream interpretation. Thankfully this took most of the lesson and so they barely had ten minutes to try and interpret each other's dreams when they were divided into pairs.

Elizabeth was paired with Charles and he looked slightly sheepish and he looked a bit red as he began.

'Most of my dreams that I remember aren't the sort I'd really care to share with a girl.'

From the look on his face Elizabeth figured what he meant, '_he and Jane in a private place sans clothing no doubt.'_

Elizabeth smiled, 'it's alright Charles, I tend to remember mine and the most intriguing I've had sometimes was a rather strange one of a palace on a distant shore. I find myself on a beach of white stones and when I walk up the path and enter the palace. A rather strange man in white robes is inside waiting for me, he never speaks but he always seems to know I'm there. He then changes into an enormous lion and roars and I wake up. I have often wondered what it means, but I've never really understood it.'

Charles look amazed, 'somehow I doubt it's a question this book would answer as it's designed for humans. Who knows, maybe one of these days you'll end up going to wherever that palace is and it might be that whoever lives there is an animagus, that's about all I could say.'

Elizabeth agreed that the book probably didn't have anything much to say on the matter and was as annoyed as Ron and Charles when the Professor set them the task of keeping a dream diary for the next month.

Ron grumbled a bit as they left, 'first Binns gives us a foot and a half on giant wars, then Snape gives us a foot on moonstones and now this for Trelawney. I sure hope Sirius doesn't give us any more.'

'Somehow I doubt that Sirius will give us much Ron,' said Charles. 'I think he's going to test us in a different way.'

Intrigued just as much as the boys, Elizabeth soon entered the Defence classroom and saw no sign of Sirius, until she noticed a familiar looking dog sat on his haunches behind the door. She walked up and petted the large hound before she whispered.

'Taking lessons from Professor McGonagall? This ought to be fun.'

He barked in confirmation and Elizabeth left to take her seat, she watched amused as the rest of the class strode in and took their places. Most were looking around in vain for the new Professor and eventually Pansy said to the class at large.

'The blood traitor has obviously decided not to show his treasonous hide, but none of you need to worry, join the ranks of the true ruler of this world and cleanse this land of the filth who infest it.'

Sirius jumped out from behind the door and transformed into himself much to the shock of the class as he said.

'I think you'll find I'm right here Parkinson, and that'll be one hundred points from Slytherin and a week's detention for attempting to coerce people into joining snake face.'

The Slytherins in the hall groaned and then glared at Pansy before Sirius walked up to his desk and sat down.

'Right, hello and welcome to OWL year, you poor devils, first things first let's see who we've got. Some of you I know well enough but most of you I've never met and at least for the first few weeks don't mind me if I forget names.'

He went through the roll call and then once the last person had declared themselves present he wrote on the board.

Defence against the Dark Arts

Keeping Safe in a War

'Right then, for those of you who don't know who I am, my name is Sirius Black, and I was once an auror in the first war before I got banged up in prison because of one treacherous rat I thought was a friend. I've been helping Amy train some of the new blood this time round but then I thought I could be of more use here. As to be quite frank, other than my old mate Moony who you'd remember as Professor Lupin, your education in this subject has been a total shambles. I mean even Crouch junior was a better teacher than that git Lockhart and don't get me started on Quirrel. So I've got one year to try and bring you all up to scratch so you if you're unlucky to run across some of snake faces goons, you'll be better equipped to survive the encounter than you are now and to make sure you pass the OWL exams which I personally think are a bit of an afterthought right now when there's a war on.'

'You aren't staying?' Asked Elizabeth.

Sirius grinned, 'as you know, this jobs been jinxed somehow so unless you can find out what's causing the problem it'll try and get me as well. So I signed a one year contract with Albus so hopefully that'll stop it getting me. If you do sort out that curse, I'll pick up the extension clause in the deal we signed.'

Sirius clapped his hands together and said, 'right then, let's get to it, for today's lesson what I want to do is to get a bit of an idea of where we are at right now in practical skills with a wand. Because the first thing you have to realise is, no matter what spells you know, if you can't hit the target you're aiming at or dodge the spells coming towards you, you're dead. Professor Flitwick and I set up a shooting range and some training dummies outside so I want you to leave your books, grab your wands and follow me.'

Sirius led them outside and towards an earth bank that had been set up not far from the quidditch pitch. Several man targets depicting a death eater holding a wand had been set up in a row in front of the bank and chalk lines had been drawn at 10, 25 and 50 meters away from the targets.

'Right, today we'll start at the first line, I'm going to group you and then I want you to use the disarming charm if you know it, or some other basic spell you know and then cast it 10 times at the target. The targets are enchanted to record your scores and grouping.'

He then showed them a group of training dummies which had been set up nearby, Elizabeth recognized these, she'd used them when she'd been training, as they were enchanted to fire mild hexes towards the user.

'This is a training dummy, it's designed to fire a mild spell towards you, it doesn't really hurt but the idea is to try and dodge the attacks and see how fast you are on your feet. Those of you not using the targets I want to try these out. Par time for an auror is twenty minutes under fire on the highest difficulty setting taking no more than ten hits. By the end of the year I expect at least five on highest and ten on medium. We'll start with the lowest setting today.'

He began to group the students to work on the exercises and Elizabeth noticed his grimace from the get go as most of the spells went wide from the intended targets, hardly anybody could do a decent disarming charm and almost nobody lasted more than a few minutes against the dummies. He finally called out to Elizabeth who he hadn't asked to do either exercise and said.

'Give them a little demonstration Princess, nothing too flashy mind, but give them the general idea of the standards Amy expects.'

Elizabeth took the twenty five metre line and fired ten stunning charms, six hit the bull's eye while the other four were in the first from centre ring, and all would have dropped the target on contact.

'Nice shooting Lizzie, see that everyone? Mind your angles and your movements as they'll send your shots wide if you don't time them right.'

Making her way to the dummy, Elizabeth set it on medium and watched the figure raise its wand and begin to fire the bolts of light towards her, she'd had plenty of practice with this test as Kingsley had used it a lot before they'd begun to spar against each other. After ten minutes, Elizabeth had taken two hits and Sirius turned the dummy off with a wave of his wand.

'Always watch your opponent's eye as that way you won't freeze and you'll often spot the little tells that means you'll soon get hexed if you don't move. Notice how sometimes Lizzie seemed to start moving before the spell even fired?'

Sirius checked his watch and them briefed the class, 'alright looks like we're about out of time for today, now by the next class I want all of you to have read the first chapter in your books as I'll be quizzing you on it. Next lesson we'll be starting with the disarming charm and the impediment jinx, two spells which by rights you should have already learned. Parkinson stay behind, we need to arrange your detentions, the rest, off you go.'

As they walked off towards dinner, Charlotte commented.

'Now that was a good lesson, I hope we can find what's causing that stupid curse as it'd be a crime to the school if we didn't try and stop him leaving.'

Ven hi los nau vis nunon inaak wah dinok: The path you are on can only lead to death.


	11. Chapter 11

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: 1000 readers and counting! Quite a milestone for a work this early in its creation, I'm surprised nobody questioned the dream I mentioned in the last chapter as it was a very important hint for both sections of the story to come in terms of powers Elizabeth is developing and for a few ideas I've been having for what to do with Elizabeth after the end of the series. Still, never mind, on with the latest twists in the tale._

Chapter 11: Recruitment, Reunions and Meddling

Defence against the Dark Arts had become once again everybody's favourite class, well, nearly everybody's. The word had gotten around the Slytherins about Pansy's mammoth point loss and according to rumour, she had been all but banished from the house entirely with hardly any of the Slytherins ever being seen with her even though mysteriously the bulk of the point loss had been made back a few days later. Every single one of Elizabeth's other teachers had spent the first part of their lessons that week lecturing them on the importance of the upcoming OWL exams and had given them huge piles of homework to do. This severely restricted the free time Elizabeth had available, but working together with the others helped speed up progress.

Eddy's patrol schedule soon came into force and the prefects were required to spend a lot of time patrolling the halls of the castle, sometimes with each other and other times with Argus Filch, to many of the prefect's disgust. As the old caretaker was hardly any less suspicious of the prefects than he was of the other students.

'The man's mental, I really don't know why Dumbledore keeps him,' said Ron one evening after he and Elizabeth came off a shift and he collapsed into one of the common room chairs.

'I know, those kids were just lost and if we hadn't been there…..' Elizabeth shuddered as she sat down with Hermione and Jane, her eyes drawn to where Fred, George and Lee Jordan were handing out what looked like sweets to a group of first years. Elizabeth watched as one by one the first year's slumped unconscious in their seats before the twins popped purple sweets in their mouths which quickly restored them to normal.

Elizabeth saw the look on Hermione's face which clearly told her that Hermione didn't approve and then had an idea.

'_I wonder if they'd want to help prank the death eaters.'_

Elizabeth walked over to them and asked.

'What are these supposed to be, fainting fancies?'

'Oh yes your majesty, one of our later developments, looks like we've got the dosage strong enough now and no side effects either, so I'd say they're ready for release,' said George, a proud look on his face.

Elizabeth took both Fred by the arm and led him to a corner of the common room before she began.

'Fred, these new products of yours are great ideas and will generate a lot of sales, but can't you tell it's upsetting Hermione.'

Fred looked towards Hermione who still had a frown on her face before he sighed, 'we can't release our products without testing them Lizzie, and we need to be sure they'll react the same on everyone. I know Mione doesn't like it, but what can we do?'

Elizabeth smiled, 'I know you like her Fred, and I think she likes you as well and I have an idea that I think will allow you to both make a fortune and not upset Hermione at the same time.'

Fred looked amazed, 'so what is it oh mighty queen?'

Elizabeth answered, 'have you ever heard of the SOE?'

Fred shook his head and so Elizabeth clarified, 'Special Operations Executive, they were a team of British muggle secret agents who were deployed in occupied territory during World War 2 to carry out acts sabotage against the Nazis while working with the local resistance groups. You would not believe the sorts of things they invented to help do it. Exploding rats, disguised mines, powder that made car wheels lock and lots more besides. A lot of people called them the department of dirty tricks. But many say that without them and the many groups working alongside them, the war would have been lost well before the Americans came to our aid. What I thought you two could do would be to develop new products to help our militia follow their example, only this time it'd be the death eaters and snake face. Just think of it, Hermione would absolutely love it and I bet the ministry would be willing to pay you both quite a bit to buy your products as well. I'm not saying you should stop making new pranking stuff for the students. That'd be just wrong as your pranks are pretty much what make the two of you who you are, just tone it down a little bit.'

Fred grinned, 'Lizzie, that's genius, that'd be the coolest pranking ever and the fact that Mione would approve would make it all the sweeter. I know she didn't like what we've been doing but I never knew it was upsetting her this much. I think I've got a few ideas and I'll have a word with Forge and Lee, see what they have to say.'

'Good man, oh and if I were you, have a word with Mione as well, in fact why not ask her to Hogsmeade next time?'

Fred hurried off and Elizabeth smiled at his retreating form before she sat with Fitzwilliam who asked, 'what was all that about?'

Elizabeth smiled serenely, 'you'll see, but if Fred's listened to me he'll soon stop these tests.'

Sure enough after the twins paid the first years, Elizabeth watched the twins take down their sign before she noticed Fred making a beeline towards Hermione. She couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but when she saw Hermione kiss the surprised Weasley twin to a chorus of cheers and wolf whistles. Elizabeth whispered to her equally surprised boyfriend who was staring at the new couple.

'Oh I do so love it when happiness repays my efforts, but I hope he realises what dating her will mean, and doesn't do anything stupid.'

Fitzwilliam whispered back, 'have you been meddling my love?'

'No, I merely helped them both to see what was right in front of them and gave the Weasley twins a useful idea at the same time.'

The rest of the week proceeded fairly well and even Malfoy doing his best to taunt them over Hagrid's absence during Care of Magical Creatures didn't dampen their spirits much. Hermione seemed to be practically floating and Elizabeth found it difficult to keep to look of satisfaction from her face whenever she saw Hermione with Fred. Her spirits rose even more on Friday at lunch time when Henry, Terry Boot and Daphne Greengrass came along and passed her sheets of parchment. Elizabeth looked down and was astonished to see a large number of names wanting to join the militia.

Henry was the first to speak, 'the idea was pretty popular in Hufflepuff, Susan and I convinced a lot of them how stupid they had been last year over the Triwizard tournament. I believe a lot signed on to make it up to you as well as genuinely wanting to help the war effort.'

Terry was next, 'The Ravens have been mixed about the whole thing, but the majority think it's a good idea and that you're the logical choice to lead it. Thankfully Tom has almost no support amongst us as most of the conservatives became rather disgusted with him when the truth about he and Salazar Slytherin came out last year.'

Daphne came next and was looking appraisingly at her as she passed the list of the Slytherins names over.

'Well Potter, Pansy's stupidity was the last straw for a lot of people who had been sitting on the fence, it's only really the militants from the dark families who are really outspoken against you nowadays. We Slytherins have always been reluctant to nail our colours to the mast but most of us can see how much of a threat Tom is. It makes it easier for us to respect you since you're Slytherins descendant, Pansy just gave some of us the final push to openly defy her and Draco.'

Daphne held out her hand and Elizabeth shook it, 'grandad will be pleased, the feud was something he's always loathed. But we're going to need every wand we can find and I've got just the task for the house of the sneaky, suitable for anyone who's good at cunning ideas.'

'What's that?' asked an intrigued Daphne.

'Well, I've got the Weasley twins working on new devices we can use as weapons and booby traps against the death eaters, I thought some of you might like to help them out.'

Daphne had a smile on her face, 'That is brilliant, and probably the last thing the eaters would expect, Blaise and Theo might be handy with that. They've always been pretty good at potions and charms and their sense of humour is pretty similar to those twin crazies of yours only they're a lot more subtle about it. Tracey is pretty crafty when it comes to wards as well and she might have a few ideas that could be useful.'

'Great, I'll tell the twins and we can work something out at the first meeting.'

'Any idea when that's going to be?'

'I'll send word out as soon as the professor's find me a suitable location, with the amount of recruits we have, we'll be needing a big room and preferably ones that's reinforced against spell damage. Chamber of secrets is no good as that's too hard to get into and grandad won't let anybody other than me or the professors in there as they're probably still sorting through the books and artefacts that were unearthed when I helped the expedition last term.'

Daphne finished, 'can't help you much there Elizabeth, but if I can I'll let you know.'

She hurried off with the others and Elizabeth gazed at the three lists before she tallied the numbers.

'_Hmm, around about 90. Plus the names on the Gryffindor list makes it approximately 150. Take off all the youngsters from the four houses and that'd leave around 100 people. Not bad, better show the lists to Sirius and Professor Dumbledore after Quidditch…'_

After her afternoon classes, Elizabeth put her books and bag away and grabbed her quidditch gear before she headed outside with the other members of the team, all her friends, and a fair few other people who had come to watch the trial. It was a clear day and conditions looked good as Angelina directed the team into the locker rooms where they donned their training robes before heading onto the pitch where a group of twelve hopefuls including Ron were standing around holding broomsticks.

Angelina was quick to start the tryout off, 'right then, first things first, I need to know how well you can fly, on my whistle I want you to do one lap around the pitch. There will be one bludger in the air, so be aware of it.'

The flyers lined up just as Fred and George got the ball crate ready and as the whistle blew, twelve assorted brooms rose into the air and George clicked the release, letting one bludger loose. The crowd were equally cheering and jeering as the flyers flew a circuit, most of them seemed fairly confident on a broom but clearly not all of them had ever faced a bludger and it hit three of the fliers before the group came into land.

Angelina dismissed the three who'd been hit after making sure they were ok and then told the nine remaining hopefuls that they'd take turns saving five penalties and they would be subjected to random bludger attacks. The quality of the applicants really began to differ as the first two hopefuls saved no more than two shots apiece while the third took a bludger to the chest after saving the third and had to pull out winded. The fourth and fifth flyers were a lot better saving three and four shots respectively and then it was Ron's turn. Elizabeth was nervous and noticed that Ron was as well as he flew into the air after an airy voice called from the stands.

'Good luck Ron.'

Elizabeth noticed Luna in the stands and smiled before she turned her gaze up to watch as Katie Bell streaked forwards, a look of concentration on her face as she headed for the goalposts.

Ron darted to the right and blocked the shot with his fist before dodging a bludger strike sent his way by Fred as the black ball brushed his hair, before Alicia took the quaffle and came in for the attack.

Ron saved the shot and did the same thing when Angelina came and tried a shot coming from below, kicking the ball away and sending it halfway down the pitch. The crowd cheered before Katie lined up and tried another shot which again failed to get past Ron's guard. However on the next shot, Alicia finally succeeded in putting a shot through the centre hoop. The other three flyers only saved three each and after they'd landed, Angelina called Ron and Vicky Frobisher to her.

After a whispered discussion, Angelina faced the rest of the team.

'Well, Vicky and Ron are our last two hopefuls and to finish this, I'm going to set up a final sudden death penalty shootout under match conditions.'

Angelina released both bludgers and the golden snitch before the whole team rocketed into the air, Elizabeth began looking for the snitch while her gaze occasionally turned to the goalposts where the two hopefuls were taking it in turns to face a chaser attack. Cheers greeted each successful save, with supporters for both the hopefuls egging their favourite on. The result when it finally came, was sudden as Elizabeth was firmly on the tail of a fleeing snitch. But a sudden groan made her look towards the goals after she grabbed it where she saw Vicky fly down towards the ground. Elizabeth flew back over to the others where she soon found that Ron had won.

Angelina dismissed them after asking them to come to practice the next day and after Elizabeth had gone back to the locker room and changed back into her uniform she decided to let Ron have his moment as she noticed Luna heading towards him, a proud look on her face.

Falling into step besides Fitzwilliam Richard and Charles, she praised.

'Ron played really well out there didn't he, maybe not quite as well as Wood but still.'

Richard nodded, 'yeah, that last shot he saved was incredible, he only just got it in time but it was still great. Vicky played pretty well too though, maybe she can be a reserve.'

Fitzwilliam agreed, 'she only just missed that last shot because she had to avoid a bludger.'

After dinner that night, Elizabeth took the lists of those who wished to join the militia and slowly made her way up towards the Headmasters office. After opening the gargoyle and knocking on the door, she was bade to enter and soon sat down in front of the Headmasters desk.

The old man had a happy look on his face and Elizabeth saw what appeared to be the remains of a golden goblet sitting on the desk. An engraved badger was just visible, the decoration rent in two where a large cut had been made in the metal.

'Good evening Elizabeth, how can I help you?'

Elizabeth passed over the lists she had brought with her before she began.

'These are the names of those who want to join the militia, I've checked them out and once first, second and third years are taken out, that leaves around one hundred. I thought fourth year would be the best line to draw as by that point, most people should know at least some defensive magic and so I wouldn't need to teach from scratch. Plus some of the more advanced spells need a lot of power behind them and the younger students might not cope if they were in a situation where they had to cast them repeatedly.'

'A sensible precaution, though you, or those you bring on board could at least teach the younger candidates a few of the basic spells and then teach more powerful ones as they grow older. We do not know how long the war will last and you will lose your older fighters to graduation.'

Elizabeth conceded the point, 'a good point sir, I didn't think of that and all of my close friends know most of the basic spells that will be taught this year, so it shouldn't be too difficult to arrange tuition. But my biggest problem at the moment is that we still need somewhere to practice, the chamber of secrets is too sensitive and the great hall has too many fragile things in it.'

Dumbledore had his customary all-knowing twinkle in his eyes which could sometimes be a bit annoying.

'You could not be expected to think of nor carry out everything Elizabeth, despite your heritage and your intelligence and cunning which is remarkable for your age you still have much to learn. Even I am prone to the flaws of missing small details at times, but I do believe I have a solution to your present problem, all thanks to an old friend of yours. As you know, Hogwarts is home to many secrets and few since the time of the founders have ever been privy to all of them. However there is one permanent group of occupants of this castle whose knowledge of its secrets is unrivalled, the house elves.'

Elizabeth was stunned, '_Of course, they go everywhere when they clean the rooms out and must know every secret passage and room in the whole building. If there's anywhere where 150 people can learn how to defend themselves and others, they'd know about it.'_

'That would make sense, but where exactly do you have in mind sir?'

'To the house elves it is known as "the come and go room or the room of requirement" and it has the astonishing ability to equip itself for the seekers needs as many a student or teacher has discovered over the century. Most stumble across it by chance, including myself but the house elves have long known the secret of the room as I will allow our common friend to explain.'

Dumbledore summoned, 'Dobby!'

With a pop, Dobby the house elf, the same elf who had once tried to save Elizabeth's life by forcing her out of Hogwarts appeared before her. He gave a cry of joy as he recognized her, bouncing up and down before he hugged Elizabeth's legs, his tears of joy soon soaking through the fabric of her stockings as he cried.

'Your royal majesty! It is such an honour to see you again.'

Elizabeth waited until the hyperactive elf had let go of her legs before she replied.

'Good to see you as well Dobby, I never realised you worked here.'

'Oh yes your majesty, Dobby and Winky both were hired.'

He launched into an explanation about how he and Winky had been taken on by Professor Dumbledore last year and how between he and the professor, they had managed to help Winky through the depression she had endured since her dismissal by Barty Crouch senior.'

Elizabeth was both astonished and pleased to hear that the two elves were doing okay and resolved to tell Hermione about what had happened to them as soon as she could. Conversation soon turned back to the room of requirement as Elizabeth asked Dobby.

'So this room can become anything you need?'

'Yes your majesty, I knows that Mr Filch has found extra cleaning supplies when he has run out, and I used to put Wink in there and founds a nice elf sized bed for her to sleep off the butterbeer. All you needs to do to open the room is to walk along the wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy three times concentrating on what you need. I can show you any time.'

'Not right now Dobby, maybe tomorrow morning? After breakfast?'

'Yes your majesty, just summon me and I'll be there.'

He vanished with a crack and Elizabeth turned back to the Headmaster before she said.

'Well that's one problem solved sir, but I expect a lot more will crop up as we go.'

'Indeed, and I'm sure you will perform admirably, you have your experiences from when you were trained last year to draw from and Sirius, Professor Flitwick and myself shall always be available to consult. But Elizabeth, while you are here I thought you might like to see this.'

He gestured towards the remains of the goblet and Elizabeth stepped closer and examined it from several angles before she commented.

'That badger looks the same as the Hufflepuff crest, does that mean what I think it does? I had a few visions of Tom working in a shop and I thought I saw something like this but I didn't know what it was.'

Dumbledore was thoughtful, 'interesting, it would seem that you are still sensitive to Tom even though the horcrux with you was destroyed and your mental powers can still link to his mind. This cup did indeed once belong to Helga Hufflepuff and was passed down through her descendants until it reached the possession of a witch by the name of Hephzibah Smith who also had acquired the Slytherin locket. Tom was indeed working for a shop, one I know you are familiar with, Borgin and Burkes. He paid the elderly witch several visits before she was eventually found dead.'

He launched into an explanation summarizing the old witches supposed "accidental" poisoning and the discovery of the missing artefacts before he finished.

'These objects were in time turned into horcruxes as we have discovered and this one was found within the Lestrange vault at Gringotts bank.'

Elizabeth was glad that another horcrux was down, 'two of them that we've found once belonged to Hogwarts founders, and I wonder if he's made any more out of founders relics?'

'I have often pondered the same question, we know that the only known relics that once belonged to Gryffindor are safe.'

He gestured to the sorting hat and the sword of Gryffindor before he continued, 'the cup and the locket belonged to Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin respectively which leaves only one founder. However the trail of her most famous creation has long been cold despite many scholars who have sought the artefact in question.'

'The diadem sir? The one that's in Hogwarts a history? I know the picture of the statue of Rowena that's in the Ravenclaw common room has a tiara on its head.'

'Very good Elizabeth, your powers of reasoning grow all the more formidable. Yes, I believe that is a very strong possibility, and if you have read the story of Rowena then you would have known that her daughter Helena took the diadem and fled, the diadem never seeing the light of day again.'

Elizabeth thought for a moment, '_Tom can't have many left, there were seven in total…'_

'Sir, there can't be many of them left can there. The diary's gone, the cup and the locket are gone, the one in my heads gone. The diadem is still intact, and there's two more we don't know about. That only leaves three to find and destroy before Tom can be killed.'

'Indeed so, but fortunately I believe I know what the others are, you are familiar with his familiar Nagini?'

Elizabeth nodded, 'I believe that Tom may have turned her into his final horcrux despite the risks involved in turning a living creature into a horcrux. The other one I believe is a ring which once belonged to his grandfather as I have evidence that placed Tom at the home of his uncle, its last owner immediately before it was taken. I believe I know where the ring could be, however after the experience with the locket. I think it would be best until I can assemble a team to assist me in its recovery as it will be well defended.'

Elizabeth was impressed, 'but that still leaves the diadem sir, even if the others are destroyed, if we don't find that diadem….'

Dumbledore looked troubled, 'true, but I think that if anybody could bring it to light it will be you. Many a scholar has tried and failed to solve the mystery of Helena Ravenclaw, however all of them had one flaw. They failed to take into account that in a way, Lady Helena has never left this castle, in fact she still lingers here to this day in the same way Lord Slytherin does.'

Elizabeth suddenly realised she had yet another Herculean task ahead of her.


	12. Chapter 12

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: I'm surprised some of my new twists didn't generate any comment as one wily reader managed to spot some of my intentions that came out in the last chapter as far back as midway through part 4. But never mind, I'm still pleased with the level of readership and follows/favs I'm getting._

Chapter 12: First Meetings and Whispered Confidences

The next morning after Elizabeth had gotten up and gotten ready, she began to think of what she needed to do now she had a suitable venue for the militia meetings.

'_I should probably take a look at it today, that tapestry isn't really all that far away from here. I could probably scout the room out on the way to breakfast…'_

By habit, Elizabeth was an early riser and today was no exception as she gazed out of the dormitory window. It was a beautiful morning with a gentle breeze blowing and the only sound other than the slow deep breathing of the five sleeping girls was the distant twittering of birds. Elizabeth looked down towards Hagrid's hut and still saw no sign of occupation and sighed as she thought of where he was and what he could be doing.

Carefully exiting the dormitory and passing the fat lady, Elizabeth strode through the silent halls of Hogwarts castle and before long came to the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. It had always been one of the more bizarre pieces of artwork on display at Hogwarts and in her first year, Elizabeth and the other girls had spent a fair amount of time examining the picture of tutu clad trolls relentlessly clubbing their would be ballet teacher. Today however, Elizabeth paid little attention to the tapestry and concentrated on her needs.

'_I need a room to train others to defend themselves, somewhere reinforced against damage.'_

On her third walk past of the stretch of the wall that Dobby had told her about, a door materialized and Elizabeth gripped the handle and opened it. Pushing the door inward, Elizabeth gasped in shock as she beheld the room before her. It was a cavernous space that held bookshelves, rows of targets, stacks of training dummies and big cushions and stacks of different defence paraphernalia.

'_Oh my! This is perfect! We'd easily fit in here and there's everything I ever used when Kingsley and Tonks trained me.'_

Examining the objects on the shelves and the equipment around her convinced Elizabeth that she had the best possible location imaginable and she quickly left to go find the others at breakfast. As she exited the room and watched the door disappear into thin air, Elizabeth saw a ghost of a young woman who seemed vaguely familiar float along the hallway towards her. Elizabeth watched the ghost come closer and saw the eyes of the spectre as she gazed right back at her. It was at this moment that Elizabeth recognized the ghost as the grey lady, the resident ghost of Ravenclaw tower.

'_Odd, one rarely sees her in this part of the castle.'_

Which was perfectly true as the ghost in question usually stayed close to Ravenclaw tower which was a long way away from her current location. Elizabeth then remembered what Dumbledore had been talking about last night when they were discussing the horcruxes.

"_In a way, Lady Helena has never left this castle, in fact she still lingers here to this day in the same way Lord Slytherin does..."_

Elizabeth's eyes widened as she realized the significance, but she knew that she could not just ask the ghost outright where the diadem was as she doubted Lady Helena would tell her if she had refused every request to date.

'Lady Helena.' Elizabeth greeted.

The ghost stopped in her tracks and gazed at Elizabeth, a mixture of suspicion and annoyance on her ethereal face as she said.

'Lady Potter, so you have discovered the truth about me? Though your mother was a good friend of mine and you yourself have never given cause to pester me. Countless students and professors before you have asked, but I will never reveal its location to anyone, not even you.'

The ghost glided away before Elizabeth could say anything else and she sighed.

'_Damn, there goes my only lead…'_

Heading down to the great hall, Elizabeth was greeted by her friends as she sat down before Jane asked.

'Where were you Lizzie? I thought I heard you get up but that was a while ago.'

'Last night Professor Dumbledore and Dobby told me about a really good place to hold militia meetings and I went to take a look.'

'Well…' Jane asked, clearly on tenterhooks.

'It's perfect, and it's really close to the tower. You know that tapestry with the trolls in tutus?'

Jane nodded.

Elizabeth told her and the others about the room of requirement and what it could do and by the end, all were impressed.

Fred commented, 'I remember once, me and Forge hid from Filch in there. This was the year before you all came, he was chasing us and we found the door, only it was just a broom closet then.'

George added, 'yeah, then the next time we were in that corridor there was no door. But didn't Lee tell us how he found a weird room where he stashed that fanged Frisbee after it ripped Snape's hat to bits.'

'I think so, hey here he comes now.'

Lee Jordan took a seat opposite George and when he was asked about the Frisbee he said.

'Oh I remember that, I thought Snape was going to kill me so I legged it and then found this door and when I opened it there was a room full of old junk, centuries worth by the look of it. I hid the Frisbee, only I never did find the door again when I went back to get it. Real shame too as there was loads of cool stuff in there that I wanted to look through.'

'So you know the secret?' asked Hermione.

'Dobby told me.' Elizabeth told the story of Dobby and Winky to an astonished Hermione who by the end was smiling.

'Well, at least they're happy now, Crouch senior and Lucy were both pretty bad to them.'

There was mutual agreement before Richard posed the next question.

'Well now we've got a venue, how do we get the word out to everyone? While this isn't exactly a secret, we don't want to go shouting it from the rooftops where people like Malfoy and Parkinson will hear.'

'Good point, any ideas?' asked Elizabeth.

Charlotte mused, 'get some of our friends in the other houses to spread the word?'

'That would work, only what would we do if we have to change the meeting date or time suddenly? Don't forget we've got to take into account prefect patrols and four separate team's quidditch practices.' Said Charles.

'I've got an idea,' said Hermione. 'We could always charm something like a necklace to display the date and time of the next meeting and then when Elizabeth sets the date, she changes the numbers on hers and then the message gets passed instantly. I can do a protean charm, I don't think it'd take me too long to charm enough necklaces if I had some help, I could probably teach it to some of you.'

Fred was amazed, 'you can do a Protean charm Mione? That's amazing, they're not teaching that to us until after Christmas.'

Hermione was smiling radiantly at his praise, 'I looked it up last year, when I saw the description I thought it might come in handy and it wasn't much really.'

Everyone was stunned by the casual way she mentioned performing a NEWT level spell that was widely regarded as being quite tricky.

Fred added, 'but that's one of the hardest charms Flitwick teaches us, it's unbelievable that you can do it so easily.'

Hermione was blushing like a sunset much to the amusement of the others but the light hearted atmosphere at the table soon vanished when the Daily Prophet was delivered.

Elizabeth had only just unfolded it after paying the delivery owl before she gasped as she read the front page.

**Terror across Europe**

Death Eaters Strike Multiple Targets, Leading Academics Abducted

By Rita Skeeter, War Correspondent

_Yesterday evening in a surprising and worrying new set of developments, several attacks across multiple homes and magical libraries in Germany, Austria, Italy and France were carried out by the death eaters. According to statements released by the ICW and the Ministry of Magic the attacks were clearly coordinated, and carried out with the assistance of local dark wizards and witches and all of the attacks had one major link. The attacks were all targeted on the homes of leading academics, with several being kidnapped along with their families. While others were killed, and priceless collections of works dating to the dawn of wizardry were taken from all of the targeted homes. DMLE sources have been quoted as saying that. _

"_Riddle is clearly seeking to learn or produce something and is targeting researchers who have a background in the area he is interested in. Our next step will be to find the link so that we can warn and provide protection to others who meet the profile of those who were attacked."_

Elizabeth saw Ron go pale and glance worriedly towards the Ravenclaw table, and following his gaze, Elizabeth saw Luna eating her breakfast, clearly oblivious as Elizabeth noticed no copy of the Daily Prophet in front of her.

Ron was quick to explain, 'Luna's dad Xenophillus has loads of really old books in their library. Some of them go back further than the time of the founders and I'd bet that a lot of them would be priceless, and if Tom finds out they've got them….'

He dashed off and Fitzwilliam asked, 'could this have anything to do with what happened to Professor Bagshot?'

'Tom must be in a hurry to find whatever it is he's looking for, and now he probably realises that if he wants it quickly he'd need more people to track it down, or it could be that Professor Bagshot stopped cooperating.'

Elizabeth shivered as the thought of what Tom would likely have done to his captive and the man's family, discarding them like so much rubbish once their usefulness was at an end. Fitzwilliam squeezed her hand and Elizabeth smiled gratefully as she looked across at Ron as he whispered into Luna's ear, a look of shock and fear quickly marring the good natured face of the younger witch.

Ron led Luna over to them and Elizabeth saw that the usual serene smile that graced her face was now gone and tears welling in her eyes. Elizabeth felt her heart lurch but could only admire Ron's tact as he drew his girlfriend close, the silver eyed girl sobbing into his shoulder as he did his best for her.

Neville pondered.

'What is it he wants? I mean, what's the point in this? This isn't an end, it's a means to an end.'

Ron guessed, 'you mean apart from godlike power and immortality?'

Everyone except Elizabeth looked confused before he continued, 'well its logic isn't it? He didn't die when he tried to kill Lizzie so he's done something to try and stop himself dying. And everyone knows that power is what he wants more than anything, that's pretty much part of any dark lord who's ever existed.'

Elizabeth was impressed at Ron's deduction and kept listening as Neville said, 'yeah, but even so, why is he doing this now?'

No one had any answer to this, and so after breakfast began to split up, but as Luna and Ron got up, Elizabeth asked Luna for a private word.

She led the still upset looking witch out of the castle, far enough so that they wouldn't be overheard and then began.

'Luna, this is important to the war effort, even if you can't help me don't breathe a word to anybody alright?'

Luna replied, 'that's alright, but how can I help?'

Elizabeth asked, 'I'm looking for something of great importance, something that once belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw herself. I don't want it for myself, in fact I mean to destroy it but it must be found before Tom Riddle gets his hands on it again.'

Luna was surprised, 'you mean her diadem don't you?'

'Yes, I know it was stolen by Helena, but somehow, Tom Riddle turned it up and has done something terrible to it and corrupted its true purpose. I introduced myself to Helena but before I could even begin to talk to her she left. I don't think she'll talk to me again, but you mentioned that you have some biographies of the founders.'

'Are you certain? Absolutely certain that Tom found it? Daddy's been looking for years, he wants to re-create it.'

Elizabeth looked warily around to make sure nobody was nearby, 'yes, he turned up two other founders relics and corrupted them, they've been destroyed now but Professor Dumbledore is quite convinced that he's done the same thing to the diadem.'

'What has he done?'

'Luna, I hate to ask this, but do you know what occlumency is?'

'Yes, mummy taught me all about it, don't worry Lizzie I'm quite safe from unwanted intrusion.'

Elizabeth smiled before she whispered what she thought the diadem had been turned into, watching the surprise on Luna's face turn into disgust.

'To think that someone could even make one abomination like that, but seven? That's inhuman.'

'Exactly, which is why we need to find that diadem and destroy it.'

'I'll owl daddy, ask him to send everything we have on the Ravenclaw family. But maybe we should try Lady Helena again.'

'Thanks Luna, I hope you're feeling better now.'

'Yes, thank you, I'm just worried as I have some relatives in Germany and they're all in danger from this as Tom would target them if he could. Ron has really turned into quite the gentleman though, who would have thought it?'

Elizabeth laughed, 'not me, but really it's all thanks to you. I'd better go, I've got quidditch after lunch, but let me know if you find anything and I'll send word when the meeting will be. Oh and I hope your relatives are alright, maybe you should get your dad to contact them.'

Luna smiled and the two of them headed for their house towers, Elizabeth meeting with the others and spending the morning doing the last of her homework. After lunch, she headed outside with her teammates for quidditch practice. None of their hearts were really in it and it showed as most of the players were getting sloppy the longer they played before Angelina blew her whistle and summoned them all to the ground.

'Look, I know everyone's worried about the news in the paper this morning, but we can't let it affect our playing. We've got our first game against Slytherin coming up soon and we can't let the war throw us off our game or we'll get clobbered out there.'

She blew the whistle again to get the players back into the air before she got them back into their drills, by the end of the practice everyone was doing at least a bit better and Angelina was feeling fairly satisfied as they all landed.

'Alright, that's better, I want all of you on your game, Slytherin may have cleaned their acts up but this is still going to be a tough game. Lizzie, you'd better keep your eyes on Malfoy as much as you can as I bet the Ferret is going to play dirty.'

'He always plays dirty, now he's probably just going to not care about Madam Hooch seeing him.'

'In that case, Fred, George, don't let him out of your sight.'

'You got it Angie.'

'Ferret's going down if he tries anything.'

'Alright, that'll be all for today, locker room.'

The team broke off and after Elizabeth emerged from the locker room, she hurried back up to the tower where she spent the rest of the day planning out the formation of the militia. Elizabeth soon choosing Wednesday evening for the initial meeting and helping Hermione and Charlotte charm the necklaces that they were going to give to their members.

Next morning after they had eaten their breakfast and headed off to their morning lessons they began to pass word to members of the other houses who had expressed interest in joining and told them to spread the word to the others. By the time Elizabeth got to Defence against the Dark Arts and took her seat, she was fairly certain that the word had gotten around to all who had expressed interest.

Sirius entered the classroom and smiled at her on his way to the desk before he began to call the roll, and when the last person had declared their presence he began his lecture.

'Right then, now we're all here we can get started and the first thing we're going to do is a little quiz based on the chapter you should have all read by now.'

He waved his wand and sent a single sheet of parchment out to them all before he said,

'Right, you've got half an hour starting right now.'

He turned an hourglass on his desk and Elizabeth looked through the question sheet, it was fairly simple, covering the theory behind the use of some of the basic defensive spells and ways to detect nearby threats. Elizabeth finished it with ten minutes to go and spent the rest of the time going through her answers. Sirius summoned the papers and glanced through them before he said.

'Not bad, looks like most of you have got the general idea of what Tacticus was saying about the basic defensive spells and the ways to recognise danger. A few of you should go over the chapter again before the exam but I won't embarrass you in front of your mates. But now to the first bit of real business today, the disarming charm. By rights this is a second year spell but that twit Lockhart didn't know the difference between his ass and his mouth, let alone how to teach.'

Sirius picked two of the students at random, 'Lady Greengrass, and Miss McGonagall, come up here please? The rest of you, stand up and clear your books away so we can make some space.'

The class stood up and moved aside as Sirius cleared a space in the middle of the room before Charlotte and Daphne stood facing each other, waiting for Sirius to give the instruction.

'Right, thank you, now I won't bother with all that duelling crap, because the death eaters sure as heck won't and if you bow to them and take your eyes off your opponent, you're dead. Alright then you two, on the count of three, cast your charms to disarm each other.'

'1, 2, 3!'

With simultaneous movements, Charlotte and Daphne both cast the spell causing flashes of red light to fly through the air sending both girls wands out of their owner's hands before they were handed back by bystanders.

'There you go, good work the pair of you, take ten points each, now I want all the rest of you to pair up and practice the same spell, I'll move around and give help if you need it.'

The class moved into pairs and began to practice the disarming charm, Elizabeth was paired with Jane, but since they both already knew the spell they spent a lot of the time looking at the others in the class. Most got it fairly easily but a few struggled before Sirius came to help them. He called a halt after about half an hour and said.

'Right, looks like most of you have got the gist fairly well but if you get the chance, more practice is always a good idea, if any of you join the militia I'm sure Lizzie will drill you to the point you can do that spell in your sleep.'

Elizabeth smiled as Sirius continued, 'next spell we'll practice today is the impediment jinx, incantation and wand movement are on the blackboard so let's try it first without wands ok, _Impedimenta_.'

'_Impedimenta!' _The class chorused.

'Nice, looks like you've got the idea, so let's try it for real, another pair to demonstrate. Neville and Ron how about you?'

The two got up, Neville looking a bit fearful before Sirius paced them apart and gave the count.

'1, 2, 3!'

Ron's spell struck true and froze Neville while his own didn't seem to do anything to Ron and after Sirius dispelled him he said, 'not bad, try a bit more emphasis on the "a" sound and a bit less movement.'

He tried again and this time Ron froze for a few seconds and Sirius said, 'that's better, ten points each to Gryffindor, now the rest of you, jump to it.'

The class practised the spell for the rest of the lesson and by the end Sirius was quite pleased, when the bell rang he praised them.

'Right then, that'll do for today, same deal as last week, read the next chapter of the book and make sure you know it for the next lesson. That'll be all for now although, Neville, I'd like a word.'

Elizabeth was curious, but put it out of her mind as she followed Fitzwilliam out of the classroom, though her question was answered after dinner that night when Fitzwilliam asked his cousin what Sirius had wanted.

'He's going to owl gran, he thinks I'd do better with my own wand.'

Elizabeth asked, 'whose are you using?'

'My dad's, gran said I should be upholding his honour, but Sirius says I'd be better off having it mounted and getting my own.'

'I'd say he's right, the wand chooses the wizard.'

'Who said that?'

'Ollivander, the first time I ever met him.'

Tuesday and Wednesday passed fairly well and without any major incidents and no further reports of death eater activity and so after dinner, Elizabeth led the way up to the stretch of wall that hid the entrance to the room of requirement. When she opened the door, everyone was in awe at the vast space that was revealed.

'Oh wow, check these out.' Said Richard as he hurried to examine the shelf full of dark detectors, Hermione meanwhile had hurried over to examine the bookcases.

'Look at these, some of them I've never even heard of,' her face was aglow as she ran her hands over the leather bound tomes.

Fred had come up behind her and whispered, 'something for everyone to do to help our queen build her army.'

Hermione giggled as he kissed her, and Elizabeth watched the scene feeling pleased that the two had found happiness in each other.

More and more people slowly trickled in and before long, Elizabeth faced all of those who had signed the lists which had been posted in the house common room. Thinking for a moment of what to say, Elizabeth finally began to speak to the crowd of hopeful recruits.

'Tonight, every single one of us came here for one reason, because we care about this school, this country, our friends and our loved ones and we want to help defend them. If any of you are here to chase girls, forget it, you might as well leave now. Somewhere out there, a mad tyrant whose sole aim is to dominate all life on this planet is waiting and his eyes are fixed on this castle. Sooner or later he will come here and when he does, we're all going to need to do everything we can to stop him. Because he can be stopped, and he should be stopped. Despite the vile lies he has spread over the last 50 years, he is little more than a bully and a coward who's mad because he didn't get his own way. But I can't do it by myself, I am going to need all of your help me when the time comes. If you're with me, then we're going to give that swine a reception he's never going to forget as he spends all eternity in some deep pit.'

The crowd cheered and when they'd settled down Elizabeth began again.

'I thought we'd start with the disarming charm, I know it's pretty basic, but it's effective and most death eaters are useless without wands. Plus with the quality of defence teachers we've had during some years here, I'm not sure who can do it. So, pair up everyone and let's give it a shot. Anyone who's really confident in their ability to do the charm, maybe you can give a hand teaching the younger people here.'

The students began to spread out and before long the room was filled with flying spells, the quality of casting varied from those who were doing it perfectly to those who had barely tried before. Accuracy was a bit shoddy as well with stray spells sending books and instruments all over the room. Elizabeth was kept busy moving around the room along with a few volunteers correcting peoples casting but after a few hours most people had the spell down.

Elizabeth called a halt when she noticed the time was getting close to curfew and she said.

'Alright, that's enough for tonight, you all did great but it's getting close to curfew so we'd better leave it here. Now I know everyone has a lot of things to consider, quidditch practice, homework and prefect duties. So in order to get the message out about when the next meeting is, Hermione came up with these necklaces. Just take one and when you feel it get warm that means I've just changed the numbers on mine and called the meeting.'

'That's NEWT level magic isn't it?' asked Terry.

'Yeah, but that's what Mione does best,' said Fred.

'Kind of reminds me a bit of the dark mark.' Said Ernie.

'That is where I got the idea, but I decided to put the information on pieces of metal rather than tattoo it on our member's skin.' said Hermione.

The crowd of students began, each taking one of the necklaces from the basket Hermione had placed by the door. Elizabeth introduced Fred and George to Tracey, Theodore and Blaise the five of them quickly agreeing to meet up to discuss their ongoing project.

When Elizabeth and the others reached the common room, Fitzwilliam was quick to praise.

'You did brilliantly in there my love, no wonder Dumbledore put you in charge, and you're a natural at this.'

Elizabeth smiled, 'today was only the beginning my Lokal, we've got a long way to go before they'll be ready to face battle.'

He drew her into his arms and kissed her, 'and you'll be the one to lead us there and out again.'


	13. Chapter 13

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, adult concepts, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: Warning, some content in this chapter could be disturbing, so read at your own risk. I've done my best not to be too explicit, but to cover all bases and make sure that the site administrators don't come gunning for me, I've upped the rating even though the Teen rating is probably still alright for now._

Chapter 13: The Shadow Lengthens as Dawn Breaks

Severus Snape was a worried man as he followed the road towards the old house on the hill that he could see up ahead. For the longest time he had played the role of a double agent, ever since he had learned that his master planned to kill Lilly. Always realising that one wrong move would mean his undoing, would mean the end of his efforts to avenge her death…

_It had been a cold night, well over 15 years ago when he had been seized by Aberforth and thrown from the Hogs Head where he soon hurried to his master's side. He strode in to the room where his master reposed on a throne like chair before he knelt before him and began his report._

'_Master, I bring you news of a most troubling nature, a witch who the old man was interviewing has given a prophecy stating that a chosen one shall be born and that one will have powers that you know not.'_

_Voldemort stood up, a look of curiosity in his eyes, 'is that so? Severus, look at me.'_

_Severus faced his master, dropped his shields and felt the intrusion as the dark lord read his thoughts of the meeting he had attempted to eavesdrop on._

'_Interesting, you have done well to bring this matter to my attention Severus, despite your failure you shall be rewarded.'_

A few months later, he had been called back to Voldemort's presence,

'_I have discovered who this "chosen one" is and soon I shall destroy her, the child has been born to the mudblood wife of your old enemy James Potter. Such a shame that one from such an impeccable lineage would taint his family's blood in such a way.'_

Severus felt his heart lurch and decided to try and strike a bargain even though he knew he was risking his life in doing so.

'_Master, you promised me a reward, may I humbly request that you spare the mudblood? Kill the child and the father, they mean nothing to me and have defied you and are a threat. But the ultimate revenge for me would be to snatch the mother from the husband's arms. I assure you, she will pay for her defiance of you.'_

_Voldemort actually looked pleased. 'Yes, you have served me well Severus, a fitting reward the mudblood would be, and your scheme would show her the futility of resistance. Very well, she shall be yours to do with as you see fit.'_

_The next morning, Severus betrayed his master as he threw himself on Dumbledore's mercy begging for him to protect Lilly. But the results were proved futile in time as he strode into the wrecked house on that Halloween night and found the love of his life lying on the floor before the empty cot. Sinking to his knees he wept, for his own stupidity in joining the death eaters, for refusing to try and see past the petty grudge with James which had driven Lilly right into his arms. Leaving the house he met Dumbledore the next morning, the old man telling him of Elizabeth's survival. In time he swore to do all he could to watch over the child._

Years passed and in time he had met the daughter of his beloved Lilly when she entered Hogwarts amongst that year's group of first years. He soon found her just as endearing, beautiful and intelligent as her mother had been before her. Not wanting to incur the wrath of the daughter the same way he had driven away her mother, he had changed the habits of decades and finally began to realise the futility of his past actions. No more so than when Elizabeth had returned with a ripped uniform, soaked in blood after a deadly battle against the basilisk where she revealed the truth of Lilly's heritage and carried with her a message from his beloved and his one-time nemesis. Over time he continued to watch as Elizabeth grew in leaps and bounds until he finally saw her return from her greatest trial as the war began again. Which lead him to his present as he once again walked towards the home which held the so called Dark Lord.

Severus sneered in contempt as he passed the wards and the gates before he schooled his features as he fell into step with one of his colleagues, Walden McNair.

'News?'

Severus smiled, 'yes, he should be pleased and what of yourself?'

Macnair grinned sadistically, 'soon the scum shall know true terror.'

The two men followed the path into the house and gathered in the main dining room among seated men and women, all garbed and masked in the same regalia they had all worn since they had joined the ranks of the Dark Lords service. Severus felt sickened as he noticed a group of captives who were bound and held in cages that were floating from the ceiling. But he did his best to school his features as he took his seat and waited for the man he had sworn to destroy to enter the room. Finally he did, taking a seat at the head of the table before his serpent Nagini rested her head in his lap and after he told his minions to sit down, he began to speak.

'Welcome Death Eaters, soon the future of this world shall belong to us the chosen as those who would oppress us are destroyed and the collaborators are made to pay the price for their treachery. But before we can march onto victory, we must overcome the best defences that our enemies can muster.'

'Macnair, I trust your mission was successful?'

'Yes master, despite the old fool's best efforts to foil the plan we now have the giants on our side and they should be ready to be unleashed within a few months, once they travel here to join our ranks.'

'Good, very good, this pleases me greatly, Yaxley, what progress on our research efforts?'

'The new material and our new captives have confirmed Bagshot's initial findings, the stone is hidden deep beneath the remains of the Slytherin manor. The book is well known to be within the Department of Mysteries.'

'Then Bagshot shall receive his reward, bring him before us, his family meanwhile shall be released unspoiled to spread my message.'

Severus felt his heart sink, '_Those poor devils.'_

Yaxley left the room and soon brought back the bedraggled researcher who bore all the signs of recent torture. Severus could tell that Albrecht knew what was coming even before Riddle began speaking and listened as his hunch proved correct.

'Albrecht, you have done very well in my service and because I am a merciful Lord you shall now receive my blessing, a swift and painless death.'

'This is folly Voldemort, that stone's power cannot be mastered my mortal hands, it will destroy you as it has everyone else who has dared to try and use its power.'

'I am no mere mortal, and soon I shall be invincible.'

'_Avada Kedavra!' _

The fatal green light struck the man between the eyes and he fell to the floor, the empty stare of death clear to Severus's gaze.

Riddle bade Yaxley, 'you know what to do, but be quick before the DMLE swarm the house.'

Yaxley took the corpse and Dissaparated before Riddle continued, 'now Severus, I trust you have found the location of Slytherin manor?'

'Yes master, it would appear that the Potters eventually acquired the land the house was built on and built their own home on the site. Whether in a fit of arrogance or in an effort to erase their past I know not. But the result is the same in that the stone should still be beneath the ruins in Wales.'

Riddle looked crazed with glee and cackled, 'then nothing shall stand in my way and the stone shall soon be mine. You have done well indeed and shall be rewarded for your efforts.'

Riddle then turned to one of the newcomers, 'Frost, how have our money making schemes progressed.'

Frost, an American expat eagerly answered, 'very well master, our dealers have reported good sales in all the markets and our other business enterprises are cutting a nice slice of the market. When both results are examined, our enterprises have brought in a combined total of ten million US dollars which when converted brings in roughly six million Galleons.'

'Six?' said Riddle, 'I had a report from some of our agents that said the profits should be eight.'

Frost began to sweat, 'overheads master, laundering can be an expensive business, there's bribes, bank fees, and the accountants take their cut. Not to mention the exchange rates can vary.'

'Mere excuses, this organization does not tolerate theft.'

Suddenly the man began to cry in agony as hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity passed into his body from the chair he was sitting on before the chair eventually sank out of sight. After a few moments it returned, with no sign of the body of Frost and looking perfectly pristine.

'Let that be a lesson to any considering betraying me,' said Riddle.

The death eaters had stayed silent as their colleague had been killed before them, before finally after a moment the meeting resumed.

'Onto a new topic, Severus, what has the old man been doing in response to our recent efforts?'

Severus began, 'very little master, he remains convinced that Hogwarts is your primary target and has been focusing his efforts at protecting it and the students within. He has been using Black and Potter to train the student body in order to defend themselves against our efforts and Potter has formed her own militia to do so. However they are limited in number and are relatively unskilled at the present. The ministry have been primarily focussing their offensive operations against us in England. As well as protecting certain high value targets, in terms of wizards and witches, locations and artefacts. As they presently believe you will follow a similar strategy as the first war. We are fortunate that recently we have managed to stem our losses, recruit more to our cause and that they also have no idea of your present efforts, they and their squib servants. I also bring news that the passage into the school you bade me to investigate so far remains unguarded and unknown.'

Riddle cackled, 'Good, do all you can to keep things as they are, none shall have any idea of what we're planning before my armies are unleashed.'

'Yes master.'

Riddle questioned more death eaters, each in turn updating him of the progress on their individual assignments, some were praised while one or two were tortured, though none other were killed. After the last death eater finished reporting their progress, the dark lord soon began to preach again.

'You have all done well my death eaters, soon our enemies shall know true fear, soon the streets of this land shall run red with the blood of our enemies as we take what is rightfully ours. After we conquer England, the world shall fall one nation at a time until we finally stand triumphant as the chosen masters of the world. For tonight, let us feast, drink and entertain our guests.'

He began to laugh and Severus felt sickened as he watched the dark lord lower the cages and bring out the prisoners one by one. All of them suffered gruesome fates at the hands of their tormentors. All of the death eaters were hooting in glee as they watched their comrades degrade the prisoners in every way possible. Before portkeys were eventually placed on the corpses to send them to public locations all over the country.

'_It is a good thing I am wearing a mask, for I would be discovered were they to see my true face. What evil truly lurks in the heart of man what would drive them to commit atrocities such as this? Is there any justice in this world?'_

When the revel broke up later that night, Severus left the manor feeling sickened by what he had witnessed. Once he was well clear of the wards, he reached into the folds of his robes and picked up a beetle which had been resting in the folds of his robes and began talking to it.

'You'd better head to Amelia, I'm going to get cleaned up and then report to Albus, hopefully I can do it before I lose my stomach contents, I feel sick.'

He blew on the beetle in his hands and watched it fly away before he continued walking.

He soon Dissaparated to his home in Spinners end before he shed his death eater regalia. Stepping into his shower, he stayed in for a long time. Feeling that somehow even all the water and soap in the world weren't enough to cleanse him from the filth he had been immersed in while attending the revel. After drying himself off and dressing in clean clothes, he headed for Hogwarts and began the long trek towards the Headmasters office. Reaching it after a while he was soon sitting before the desk listening to the lament that Fawkes was singing and he felt his heart begin to relax a little.

'What news Severus?'

Severus began to summarize what he had heard and seen, watching the reactions on the old wizards face and by the end he saw that he looked just as sickened as he felt.

'I am grieved Severus, grieved, shocked to think that one who once held so much promise could sink so low as to torture, maim and rape innocent people for dinner entertainment.'

Severus sighed, 'I don't know how much more I can take Albus, to just sit there and watch those animals do that time and again, see them tear apart families like that. Makes me wonder if there's any justice in the world, I can't believe I was stupid enough to fall for what he promised back then.'

'The fact that you were able to see the falseness of Tom's promises and prove your remorse for your own actions proves how far you've come Severus. I never promised that this would be an easy duty, but I cannot deny how vital it is. Without the information you've provided we would effectively be blind to Tom's plans and the information can be used to save lives. To stop families being torn apart and to give justice to those that have already suffered. Look, how about you go and take some time off? You've got a lot of leave that you've never used, so take some time off for a week or so. Then come back and see me, I can cover your classes while you're gone or ask Horace to.'

'I might just do that Albus, it won't even come close but it's something at least. I've just got them covering the standard OWL level potions right now. All fairly simple textbook potions and the students have access to the ingredients they need to brew them. I ordered more than ample before the start of term. But who will cover my stewardship duties for the house?'

'Aurora can do it, she was a Slytherin herself and is respected my most of the current students in the house.'

Severus thought of the young, dark haired astronomy lecturer who had proven quite a capable member of staff since she'd joined the faculty seven years ago holding a mastery in astronomy at the remarkably young age of 30.

'Yes, I trust that Aurora would me more than capable, good night Albus.'

'Goodnight Severus, and I thank you for your efforts.'

Severus left the office and headed back down the winding staircase and began to trek downstairs towards his quarters lost in thought and therefore failed to see the witch he had just been thinking of walking towards him until he bumped into her and sent her to the floor.

Severus looked down and noticed Professor Sinistra on the floor and muttered, 'sorry Aurora, I didn't notice you, I must confess I was lost in thought.'

He held out a hand and helped the younger lecturer to her feet as she said.

'It's alright Severus, I'm not hurt, but what's wrong? You look terrible.'

Severus was grave as he studied the worried look on the astronomy professor's face.

'Is your mind occluded Aurora? Though I trust your discretion, there are those in the world who are capable of stealing the truth from unprotected minds and my own troubles are of a rather sensitive nature.'

'Yes, my father taught me before he died and I find it very useful when I need to keep my emotions under control.'

'Do you know I am a member of the order of the phoenix?'

'Yes, Albus told me when he asked me to join at the start of term, I've been thinking about it ever since and I think I will. I lost my parents and my sister to that murdering barstard Riddle and the sooner someone puts him six feet under, the happier I'll be.'

He began to tell his story and parts of his role in the war so far to the astonished witch who could only shake her head before she threw her arms around him and drew him close.

'Oh Severus, I'm so sorry, I never knew and to be honest I almost began to suspect that some of the rumours were true.'

Severus despite his pain in his eyes managed a small smile, 'what? That I'm secretly a vampire and that I prefer to drink the Gryffindors more than any other house? Or I'm actually batman in disguise and moonlight as the caped crusader?'

Aurora laughed, but fell silent quickly as she noticed two prefects nearby, one of them emitting an unmistakable silver glow. Thankfully they didn't turn into the corridor, but she was sure she noticed her star pupil give a very small wink in her direction.

Turning back to Severus she said, 'no, the one that said you have no heart and don't care for anyone beyond yourself.'

A fierce look crossed his countenance for a moment before he said, 'no, that's not true, few ever knew the truth and that in itself is a long and painful story. I would have died for Lilly and I vowed to protect Elizabeth, I may have hated James once but I could never pass that onto his daughter, which would be an insult to Lilly's memory. Besides she is such a precocious student, it's an honour to teach one so talented and I must admit that she's the main reason that keeps me fighting.'

Aurora was beaming at him, 'that's beautiful Severus, it really is. But what about you? Is there anyone who would motivate you to willingly walk into that hell? And I don't mean Lady Potter or Albus?'

'No, I never once thought of myself, not after Lilly died, I swore I'd avenge her.'

'And that's very noble of you, but surely she wouldn't want you to keep doing this to yourself just out of a desire for vengeance. You deserve your peace and happiness just as much as anyone else Severus. If you're going to keep doing this, do it for the right reasons.'

'I know, I just….'

'Stop talking.'

Severus was rather surprised when he felt Aurora move her arms to his neck and lean in, and as she drew closer to kiss him, he could only think.

'_Lilly, goodbye and thank you.'_

Later that night, Severus finally fell asleep, still feeling rather bewildered with what had happened and could only hope that Aurora didn't come to regret her actions. Strangely he awoke and found himself standing in space. The cosmos was a beautiful sight and he began to feel mildly envious of Lilly and Elizabeth in that they held such a strong connection to the infinite that he saw all around him.

A voice called out to him, one that he had not heard since he had been a student of Hogwarts. The one voice that had haunted him ever since that day in his fifth year.'

'Severus?'

He looked around, not seeing anybody and then became conscious that he was as bare as the day he'd been born and wished he had some clothes. Suddenly a set of robes appeared and he put them on, they were soft and clean and were just his size.

Again he heard the voice and this time saw her stride into view, looking just as radiant as ever as she beamed at him. He was about to call out to her when she held up a hand and said.

'Don't, or you'll wake her up.'

Severus closed his mouth and listened as Lilly began to speak, 'today you have finally made an important step and I'm proud of you for it. Sev, you have to let me go, your desire for vengeance can only consume you and deprive you of any chance for your own happiness. You loved me, and you suffered terribly because of me, I don't deny it. But now you have a chance to move on, to give your heart to another. Take it Sev, Aurora is a good witch and you both deserve all the happiness in the world together. I know what you've been doing and I'm proud of you for it, but you can't bear the burden alone. Having a sympathetic ear will make all the difference for you and the comfort you can give each other will give you the strength you need to continue. For the war has begun to move into a crucial phase and the information you provide will only become more important. For while my dear Lizzie knows what is to come, she does not know when it will do so.'

Severus stood back and simply observed the red haired angel standing before him, he knew she was right even if he found it hard to admit it. Lilly's ghost had haunted him even before she had died and he knew that unless he could let her go, he would eventually drive Aurora away and he did not wish that. He gazed down at the earth and saw Britain below his feet, still veiled in darkness much as his heart had long been. But as he continued to watch, the earth's orbit slowly began to illuminate Europe, the rays of gold slowly advancing towards the English Channel. As he looked at Lilly she wore the smile he always associated with when she knew something obvious that he didn't.

'Ah, you have realised the truth then Sev? Good, it is time for you to come out of mourning. Dawn is coming and you'll soon have a lot to keep you busy, both now and in the future. Look after Aurora, I shall be very disappointed if I see you break her heart, and I will.'

Another voice called for Lilly and Severus watched as James walked into view, his old nemesis coming to stand beside his wife where he took her into his arms. Severus felt no hint of jealousy as he watched the couple greet each other. But then saw James's puzzled look as he caught sight of him. Lilly whispered into James's ear before his old enemy walked towards him, his hand outstretched.

Severus took it and as the old adversaries faced each other at dawn, James began.

'Well Severus, Lilly just told me what's happened and I must say, I'm proud of you. You're a brave man and you deserve all the happiness that you and Aurora will share together. I can't tell you everything the Mrs has seen as that's against the rules, but I will tell you that things work out all right. Can I ask a small favour? Can you take Padfoot a small message from me, make sure you get it right.'

Severus nodded, and James said, 'tell him quote, "hurry up and make an honest woman out of her paddy or she'll start thinking you're not serious."'

'You got that?'

Severus nodded again and in that moment somehow knew that his time was coming to an end.

'Looks like times up, it was good to catch up, bury the old hatchet and all that. I'm really sorry things turned out the way they did, but it looks like things are going to turn out alright now. Send Lizzie our love and don't you dare show up, up here permanently until you're old and grey as you're needed, now more than ever.'

Lilly beamed at him, 'you'll have a long and hard road ahead, but the rewards shall be worth it Sev. Trust me, no one is ever going to look at you in the same way again.'

The world turned white and as it did so, he thought he could just hear James's voice.

'Good luck, and congratulations.'

Severus woke up, blinking against the strong light shining through the window, feeling confused as his quarters were in the dungeons. But then he felt the warmth of another body nestled against his own and the memories of last night flashed past his mind and he blushed. Gazing down at the little figure of Aurora, he gently brushed a few stray hairs away from her eyes and saw the smile form on her face.

Severus Snape, Slytherin, former loyal death eater now potions master of Hogwarts, rumoured vampire drinker of Gryffindors, and man without a heart. He knew he didn't deserve the love of the beautiful witch in his arms but sure wasn't going to draw anybody's attention to the fact.

Aurora woke a few minutes later, the smile clear on her face as she gazed up at him.

Aurora Sinistra, youngest member of the faculty, orphan, master of astronomy, no one special really. She knew she didn't deserve the affectionate, selfless, wounded gentleman who presently was sharing her bed but she wasn't going to admit it to anybody.

After a short while, the pair of them rose and prepared themselves for the day ahead before leaving the room hand in hand and headed for the breakfast table. Aurora whispered to him.

'Are you feeling better?'

Severus smiled, passing students goggling at him as though he'd grown a second head.

'I have never slept better after such a difficult day, I feel the weight on my shoulder considerably lessened, and it's all thanks to you my dear.'

Aurora giggled, 'well that's good to know, any idea you'll do now?'

'I think it's time I laid some ghosts to rest, but after that….'

He smiled towards her as they entered the great hall, knowing that things were looking up.


	14. Chapter 14

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, adult concepts, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: Over 1,500 readers which is good, but still only three reviews which is bad, I mean come on. I've seen some stories nowhere near as long get hundreds and it isn't exactly a hard thing to type something at the bottom of the screen and then press a button. I won't hold the fic to ransom but the longer the fic goes without any more reviews the less my motivation gets to keep writing it._

Chapter 14: The Beginning

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, high in the castle, the remains of the Slytherin locket sitting on his desk besides an ancient tome that had reposed within the collection recovered from the Chamber of Secrets. He looked down at the aged parchment and read the words:

_None know from whence the magic of Herpo came, or the true nature of the black stone he carried which he long claimed to be the source of his power. Whether they were the boons from some dark god or the results of foul experiments carried out at his fortress on the sea. But despite the origins of his foulest sorceries and the stone he carried, he remained a plague upon this earth until his demise at the hands of the lights champion. Though after his defeat the fortress was scoured for the stone and the other foul sorceries that the darkest of wizards had created to prevent their usage. None were discovered though some of his spells were later found amongst other practitioners of the darkest art. Whether the stone was spirited away in the night by a disciple or hidden by Herpo himself. The result was that the stone passed out of all knowledge until it emerged some two hundred years later, carried by Umeric the evil before his sudden demise at the hands of an unknown assassin. Many have claimed to have possessed the artefact over the years and all boasted of its legendary power to unlock the greatest of dark magic's and allow the wielder their own apotheosis and in so doing transcend their earthly weaknesses._

Albus looked at the aged parchment, his brow furrowed.

'_Apotheosis, the transformation of mortal man into god, a power that would be irresistible for one such as Tom. Yet all those who have claimed to hold the stone were known to have met their deaths in time. Something clearly is not right with the legend, but what? Can it be that this stone is the artefact mentioned in the prophecy of the end of days?'_

Albus got up from his desk and walked over to his pensive, drawing his wand, he twirled it through the mists of memory held within the basin and saw the figure of a younger Elizabeth emerge from it and begin reciting that fateful prophecy that he had been given.

"_The renegade lies sealed, nothing but a whisper through the ages remaining to remind all of his treachery. When wheels turn on the last war, when the world trembles before the dawn of the final apocalypse as the veil of secrecy parts, as armies gather on the shores, banners unfurled as the legacy of the brothers clash against the unholy champion's greed. The renegade shall return as the arbiter unleashes his most powerful creation, justice incarnate who shall restore the balance and whose legacy shall live on forever."_

The ethereal Elizabeth sank back into the mist as Albus contemplated the meaning of the prophecy.

'_Clearly the stone is the source of power that Lilly told Elizabeth of, but the renegade? Who is he? What kind of creature could manipulate and lead the strongest of dark wizards to their deaths?'_

Examining the memories of Bod Odgen, Albus concluded that the next Horcrux could well be hidden in the shack and knew that he should take advantage of Tom's present preoccupation to seize it and destroy it.

A knock came from the office door, interrupting his thoughts and Albus spoke.

'Come.'

A familiar dark haired wizard stepped inside and Albus smiled at his potions master. He had been astonished as the rest of the school at the recent transformation that had seemingly overnight changed the once troubled man, into a seemingly completely new wizard.

'Ahh, Severus I trust that there have been no problems in arranging todays Hogsmeade trip?'

'No, Tom's eyes remain fixed on Wales and he intends to travel to recover the stone today and we will have more than enough security about the village in case any death eaters defy orders. Let the students have their day of joy and laughter, for no doubt soon the realities of war will return.'

Albus had been nodding, 'yes, that's true indeed but will you go to Hogsmeade today?'

Severus smiled, 'yes, Aurora and I shall both be there, I doubt there will be trouble but if there is we can step in.'

'Good, now Severus, I believe I may know where another Horcrux may be located. However after the experience I had in the summer with the locket I believe it would be best if I were to take a team with me to the site. If I were to arrange a time for say, next weekend, would you be available to help?'

'Yes, but where is the thing?'

'I believe it is located in the shack Tom's grandfather, mother and uncle once lived in a short way outside the village his father once resided in.'

'Little Hangleton?'

'Yes, if we find it and destroy it then that will leave only the diadem and the snake Nagini remaining to hold Tom to this world and I hold great faith that Elizabeth and her companions shall soon track down that legendary item.'

'The sooner the better. Who else will you recruit for the expedition?'

'Young William Weasley, Alastair and perhaps Aurora if she will consent to join us.'

'I'll ask her, but I'd better be going as the students should be about ready to go by now.'

Albus watched as Severus left the office and listened as Fawkes trilled a bright note.

'Yes, perhaps so my old friend but what manner of scheme will Tom plan with such power and what could come to pass in the meantime?'

Elizabeth, at the moment oblivious to the two men's discussion was walking down the stairs to breakfast, looking forward to a well-earned day in Hogsmeade with Fitzwilliam. She was feeling particularly pleased at the moment as both her classes and her duty as a prefect and the militia captain were going well. After the recruits had mastered the basics of disarming, Elizabeth and her friends had begun to teach them all the general purpose spells that she had learned over the years with most of the group making solid progress. Even Neville had excelled once he had come back from a trip to Diagon alley. Holding a brand new wand which he had used to good effect at the next session where he managed to duel Richard to a standstill. Quidditch had been going fairly well for the most part with Ron proving to be quite a solid keeper, though he did occasionally suffer from the flaw of making more mistakes after an initial blunder.

Events around the school were generating a lot of comments with the rumour mill working at seemingly double the normal rate, especially after the morning of what had been dubbed "The whisper transformation." When Professor Snape had walked into the great hall hand in hand with Professor Sinistra. Smiling wider than anybody had ever seen him before he proceeded to whisper something into an astonished Sirius's ear. Both men had left the school on several mysterious errands during that week. Before both came back so different that many had begun to speculate that the two had both been replaced by bad impostors. Especially Professor Snape who had shed his trademark vampire looks and replaced them with emerald green robes and shorter, slicked back hair that just touched his shoulders. Fred and George soon speculating that he had secretly begun to worship Loki.

Elizabeth knew the truth of what had happened after first Sirius and then professor Snape had drawn her aside and told her, much to her surprise and happiness.

Fitzwilliam, from besides her drew her closer to him and grinned.

'You're looking happy this morning as well as beautiful, is there anything in particular?'

Elizabeth beamed, 'my godparents are engaged to be married next summer, Professor Snape has finally let go of the guilt he has suffered because of mother. The militia are all doing really well and so far OWLS and the quidditch team are going all right. So all in all I'd say I have many reasons to be feeling happy right now.'

'Plus todays a Hogsmeade trip and for once in a rare while I've got you all to myself, just as long as you don't drag me into Madam Puddifoots.'

Elizabeth giggled and pretended to pout, 'oh but I hear it's so much fun William.'

Elizabeth heard him sigh, 'if you really want to, then we will.'

Elizabeth smiled, 'oh don't worry, I don't really want to go in there. I've heard a lot of the others say that it isn't that great and that most of the male population resents the place.'

He seemed to relax after this and led the way into breakfast looking quite calm. Elizabeth gossiped merrily with the others as they ate, looking forward to some alone time with the wizard to her left. Between the homework, quidditch practice and her duties as a prefect and as the militia captain time alone together had been rather limited. Just as Elizabeth was about to bid the others goodbye, Luna came up to her holding a package wrapped in brown paper.

'Lizzie, William, wait. I really don't want to interrupt your date but it's here. Daddy's sent it to me. How about we meet after we all get back from Hogsmeade and we'll see if the book has anything on the theft.'

Elizabeth was eager, 'oooh yes! The quicker we get this solved the better, but keep that book very safe. The last thing we need is for Tom to get his ugly mitts on it.'

Luna nodded and soon left just as Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam bade the others goodbye and went to get in line to be scanned and signed out by Mr Filch. Once they were clear of the doors and were walking along the road, Fitzwilliam asked.

'Lizzie, what were you and Luna talking about?'

Elizabeth looked sadly at him, 'the headmaster wants me to find something of great importance to the war effort. While I think the grey lady knows where it is, she's not saying anything and that book might just give Luna and I enough information to find it without her.'

'Is it like that locket you found in the summer?'

Elizabeth nodded and he commented, 'Wow, he really trusts you, doesn't he.'

'Dumbledore? I think he realizes that he can't win the war by himself and to end it faster he needs to get all the help he can find. Something obviously made him change his mind, I don't know what. Plus I think he knows my powers will be a key to victory.'

'As long as he isn't using you, you're not a weapon my love you're a person. By all rights none of us should be doing this.'

Elizabeth knew he was right but led him off the path, drew him close, laid a hand on his cheek, inhaling the soft scent of his cologne and whispered. 'I know Lokal, but the more people who run and hide, the less there are to fight Tom. If all flee from him there will be nowhere safe to run. If I don't do something, he will never stop hunting me until he kills me and the world falls to the fire. I refuse to let that happen.'

Elizabeth felt his arms encircle her.

'Just be careful my love, It tore my heart out every time to see you suffer as you have.'

Elizabeth leaned down, her arms encircling his neck, 'I promise.'

Fitzwilliam bent his face up and made their lips meet, once more thinking himself the luckiest wizard on earth before all thought beyond the goddess in his arms was wiped from his mind.

At that moment, Tom Marvolo Riddle had other concerns in this thoughts as he trudged through the jungle like growth that blocked his path to his destination. His familiar Nagini following him like a faithful dog as he grimaced at yet another painful throb from the wound in his chest. The charred ruins of a once grand manor house stood before him and the dark wizard laughed in remembrance of the triumph he had felt as he watched the home burn almost twenty years ago. Two thorns in his side had been removed that night, two obstacles that stood before him on his quest to ultimate power. Entering the remains of what had once been a grand entrance hall he let the visions that he had seen guide him to a far wall. A few spells told him of the false wall and cackling loudly, he blasted the wall to rubble, rock and dust blowing inwards as he destroyed yet another obstacle in his path towards the treasure he knew was hidden within.

When the dust cleared, Tom stepped forward into the hidden chamber which had miraculously survived the fire untouched. An aged inscription was carved into the wall behind a trapdoor which was heavily warded, and Tom cackled as he read the warning.

_Ye who seeks the dark power entombed below take heed._

_Long ago, the renegade's soul was sealed in stone for his treachery against the divine dragon. His soul was banished to the depths and was in time found by the darkest of man, Herpo the foul. He sought to use its power but was ultimately consumed by the vengeful spirit held within the prison. The legend grew of the dark stone that could change man to god and yet none who sought the stone after him ever was granted their dark design as the lure of dark divinity drew many to their doom. Be warned stranger that he who takes the stone for his own shall serve the one entombed within it as his soul joins the ranks of the dammed and his body becomes the tool of the renegade. I Helga, daughter of Salazar inscribed this message and implore ye to return to whence ye came._

Tom laughed and cackled to Nagini, 'have you seen this my treasure? Cheerful little greeting indeed. My destiny awaits me, now come.'

Tom spent a short while bringing down the wards and soon broke the seal on the trapdoor in the room and followed a set of stone stairs and into a cellar full of twisting stone passages. Driven by his greed he made his way forward, disarming trap after trap as the siren call of the stone drew him ever onwards until he finally came to the last chamber. A portcullis dropped ahead of him and another behind him while an armoured figure got up and clanked towards him raising a broadsword.

Tom laughed as he fired off a blasting curse and blew the metal golem to shrapnel, but as the debris fell to the floor, the ghost of a woman appeared.

'Stop Tom, you don't know what you're doing, you fool.'

'You dare call me by that filthy name, soon I shall be invincible and that upstart of a girl shall finally lie dead at my feet. You wish to protect it from me do you?'

'No I wish to protect you, from it.'

'Begone meddler, fall into the oblivion that awaits all who stand in my way.'

He drew his wand and aimed at the ghost, '_Spiritus pelle!'_

The lance of white light struck the ghost in the chest, and as the figure saw the gold light begin to emanate from her body she said to the cackling wizard.

'I warned you, but now you will pay the price, you cannot wield this power Tom, there are none on this earth who can. Now you, like all those before you shall join the ranks of the dammed.'

With a burst of gold light, the ghost of the woman disappeared and Tom watched in glee as the portcullis's opened and he approached the pedestal before him, laughing as he beheld the black stone that reposed on it. It was a large crystal about the size of a clenched fist and the light reflected oddly off its surface. Whispering voices seemed to come from it and one called to him.

'Come Lord Voldemort you have served me well. Step up and claim your reward, I shall house my powers in you. Whatever you desire, I shall desire it too, let the universe tremble as the unworthy flee in terror before our wrath.'

Grinning like a madman, Tom didn't hesitate for a second and stretched out his hand, taking the stone from the pedestal and holding it above his head. The effect was immediate and he felt the rush of raw power run into him, renewing the reserves which had been sapped by his hated enemy.'

'Yes Nagini I am renewed and my strength returns. Soon nothing shall stop me. Once the book is in my hands I shall absorb all of his power and all of the dark wisdom of the ages. This earth does not matter and soon I shall rule over every soul.'

Voldemort could not resist and he began to laugh, his victory now assured as he felt the strength and magic power fill his body.

Elizabeth Potter drew her lips away from her boyfriends and looked up as she felt the ripple of power that seemed to pass through the air and heard the sound of laughter in the air. Her brow furrowed as she heard the hauntingly familiar cold laughter in the air, so much different to the deep warm tones she had heard from her William all day. She had had an absolutely wonderful date. Fitzwilliam escorting her around the village as they strolled through the picturesque streets. Stopping in the many small shops and acting like any normal teenagers in love. Before the pair of them had left the crowds of Hogwarts students behind and found a picturesque meadow, just outside the village and soon became lost in some shameless snogging. Fitzwilliam caught the look in his girlfriend's eyes as he gazed up at her still perched in his lap, a strange look of fear in her eyes and he asked.

'What's wrong? Did I hurt you?'

Elizabeth shook her head and placed her finger on his lips, listening carefully as again she heard the laughter.

'There is a fell voice in the air, and something seems to have shifted the balance. I can hear him laughing.'

Looking towards the horizon, Elizabeth saw a line of dark clouds coming towards them and felt the wind beginning to pick up. Which felt even stranger as it had been a perfectly beautiful clear autumn day up until then with not a breath of wind stirring the willows around them.

Closing her eyes, Elizabeth saw the image of a dark cellar and noticed Tom standing before a pedestal. A dark crystal was in his hands and in that moment, she felt more than heard the voice as he taunted.

'You are too late, once the tome is in my hand, all shall be mine and you will know pain beyond your darkest nightmares. As I slowly destroy all you hold dear before you finally know suffering you cannot imagine and pay the price for meddling.'

Opening her eyes, Elizabeth gasped in shock.

'Oh no, he's found it, the stone!'

Fitzwilliam was confused, 'what stone?'

'A stone which has long held the spirit of a vengeful being, a renegade who once fought against the creator before being imprisoned and banished. I must warn the headmaster at once.'

Elizabeth got to her feet and helped Fitzwilliam to his before she concentrated and changed into her phoenix form, before she flew up and perched on Fitzwilliam's shoulder. Thinking of the headmaster's office, Elizabeth soon saw the familiar surroundings and spotted the old man sitting at his desk, looking very surprised at her entry.

'Elizabeth? Lord Longbottom? Is there a problem? What brings you here in such a hurry?'

Elizabeth turned back into her usual self and quickly explained.

'Sir, he's found the stone, I heard his voice on the air and a storm is coming.'

'Dumbledore looked grave, 'Are you certain Elizabeth?'

'Yes, this is not the weather of the world sir, I felt the balance shift just before I saw the storm clouds, and he spoke to me, said I was too late.'

The professor got to his feet and went to the window, looking towards the horizon where the storm clouds were coming. He soon turned back to them and began.

'These are grave tidings indeed, but hope is not lost as long as those willing to fight do not despair. The mysteries of that stone have eluded countless dark wizards and it will take Tom a long time to truly understand its power. The stone has also an agenda of its own, one that has led all of its previous holders to their graves. By daring to meddle with such a power, Tom has inadvertently sealed his own fate just as you once predicted.'

Elizabeth felt the adrenalin leave her system and slowly began to calm down before she asked.

'What do we do now?'

'Now, you must continue your efforts in training the militia and tracking down that diadem, as they've just become more important than ever. Myself, the order and the ministry will do all we can to cripple Tom's power. Now I must ask the pair of you, be very careful in whom you confide, we do not want to start a panic.'

Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam nodded before Dumbledore smiled at the pair of them, 'very well, now I suggest the pair of you tidy your appearances before you go downstairs, Prefects are to set an example at all times.'

He showed them out and as they left Elizabeth realised what he meant with a blush as she noticed her plump lips and their ruffled hair and the lipstick smudged on Fitzwilliam's face. After they split up to tidy their appearance they made their way downstairs where most of the students had begun to return early seeking to escape the storm, the soft rumbles of distant thunder reaching Elizabeth's ears.

Meeting up with Ron and Luna, both of whom looked very windswept and a bit wet from the rain. Ron asked them.

'What's going on with this storm? One minute everything was perfectly quiet and then the next minute, we nearly get soaked.'

'It's a spell, a taste of Tom's power sent to unsettle us.'

Ron seemed sceptical 'you sure Lizzie? Not many wizards can alter the weather this much.'

'I heard his voice, whether or not it was of his own invocation Tom is responsible for this storm.'

Luna looked fearful for a moment before her normally surprised gaze seemed to harden.

'Lizzie come on, you know we can't delay for a moment. We need to find that diadem and fast.'

Elizabeth smiled at her before she looked at Fitzwilliam.

'Luna and I have a job we need to do for the headmaster, we'll meet you both later alright.'

The boys agreed and so Luna led the way upstairs before she disappeared into the Ravenclaw tower, soon emerging holding an old book. Elizabeth led the way to the room of requirement and brought forth a comfortable reading room. Sitting down, the two witches examined the book which was written in Latin.

'Can you read it Luna?'

'Daddy taught me while I was growing up, a lot of our older books are written in the old languages and it does help. You should try and learn the old alphabets sooner or later Lizzie, I can help if you want.'

'That's good and I might take you up on that, now I imagine what we're looking for would be towards the back as the theft would have happened when Rowena was reasonably old.'

Luna didn't reply as she looked to be concentrating intently as she examined the last sections of the aged tome but after a while she said.

'Well Lizzie, the book doesn't say where the diadem is, but there is something here that might be a good lead about where it might be, listen to this. "Rowena knew she was not long for the world and despite her daughter's apparent desertion and the rumoured theft of the diadem. She wished more than anything to see her once more before she passed the veil. So in order to bring this about, she tasked the Baron to find Helena and bring her back to the castle. The Baron was well known to have long wished to wed Helena who was well known for her beauty and her enviable dowry. However Helena herself was long rumoured to have held the Baron with nothing but contempt in her own heart as he had a known reputation as a gambler and as a seducer. Neither Helena nor the Baron were seen alive again but soon afterwards two new ghosts were found amongst those who dwell at the school. One answered to the title of the grey lady and the other soon became known as the bloody Baron…."'

Elizabeth was astonished, '_Baron? The Bloody Baron! Rowena sent him after Helena and both die and return to the castle. The Baron's covered in blood, I wonder….'_

'Well, it fits what we knew already but it does raise a few questions. Something must have happened that led to them both dying, but what? What if she refused to return and he killed her and then out of remorse killed himself?'

Luna looked sad but nodded, 'that would make sense, and the other question is, where did he find her? If she still had the diadem she would have hidden it when she noticed him coming. It must have been somewhere that Tom could have got to, otherwise he'd never would have found it unless he conned her into telling him where she'd hidden it while he was here as a student.'

'I think the only way to find out is to try and ask them, but the bloody Baron's even less likely to tell us than Lady Helena would.'

'She might tell us if I were with you, she has always been very kind to me, especially when the other Ravenclaws used to bully me.'

'I hope you're right, she must know what he's become and maybe that's why she didn't say anything to me. But whatever her reasons for not saying anything, we should do try and find her sooner rather than later, this storm is just the beginning Luna.'

Luna smiled, 'the beginning of the end for Tom.'


	15. Chapter 15

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, adult concepts, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: Looks like someone listened to my pleas for reviews and instead of just a usual update soon review, they picked apart the entire series with the eye of a trained professional. It's a pity you can't respond directly to Anon reviews as I'd really love to send a detailed response back to this one. Whoever you are, thank you for the points you made, both good and critical. But in response to your key points without taking up this whole chapter. I can only really say that nobody's perfect and you'll never find a fic that has everything you like in it and nothing you don't, unless you write it yourself. Plus I had my reasons for putting in the things you didn't (Victor as Wickham, and the Creator). This series has been my most ambitious work to date and a lot of what I've been putting in has been designed to take a lot of known concepts and twist them to add my own touch while trying to find appropriate balances in the tale (like too much/too little detail). As with any other experiment, flaws such as lack of individual character limelight are inevitable and if I ever were to rewrite the series from the very beginning I'd probably do a lot of things differently. Don't worry though, all the characters will come and go in the tale and Richard and Jane will get their starring roles as I do have plans for them. I hope this answers your main concerns and I look forward to your next review, but for now, back to the story._

Chapter 15: Spirits, Duels and Temptation

Luna greeted Elizabeth and the others the next morning at breakfast and whispered to Elizabeth that that morning was as good as any other time to try and get the Grey Lady to talk. Elizabeth agreed completely and after she had finished eating the pair bade the others goodbye and got up and exited the hall before Elizabeth dashed up to fetch her dagger in case she ended up finding the horcrux.

Checking nobody was around, Elizabeth activated the Marauders map as Luna looked at the aged parchment with interest.

'What's that Lizzie?'

'A map of Hogwarts, my father and his friends made it when they were students here and Fred and George gave it to me, it's actually part of the reason why they call me their queen. The map shows where everyone is both living and dead as long as they are within the grounds of the castle and their location isn't unplottable. Now let's see where our lady is….'

The pair of them bent their heads together as they examined the aged parchment before Luna spotted their target.

'Here she is, not far from the room of requirement again, but that's odd. Why is she spending so much time there?'

'Maybe we can try and ask her that.'

Elizabeth deactivated the map and tucked it back in her pocket before she and Luna hurried to the seventh floor corridor, soon finding the Grey lady not far from the tapestry that unknowingly marked the entrance to the room of requirement. Elizabeth felt apprehensive as the pair of them approached the spirit who seemed to somehow know what they were about to ask judging by the look on her face. Sure enough, she soon spoke.

'Potter, for the last time I will never tell you nor anyone else where it is. Leave that accursed object well alone for no good shall come of it seeing the daylight.'

She turned to fly off before Elizabeth said.

'Wait, please don't go. I don't want to find it for myself, I want to destroy it. You don't know what's happened to it, it's been defiled and corrupted from its true purpose.'

Helena raged at Elizabeth, 'I know what's happened, what HE DID TO IT. I WILL NOT BE FOOLED AGAIN.'

Luna pleaded, 'It has to be destroyed, it's keeping that monster alive but there are only three left and if you tell us where it is then we can make sure justice is done.'

Helena seemed to calm down as she said, 'I took it from mother and fled to Albania, and when I saw the Baron coming I hid it before he found me. When I refused to return to England, he slew me in his rage before in his horror he killed himself.'

Elizabeth's eyes widened, '_Albania! Of course, Tom persuaded her to tell him and then after he attacked me, where better to hide than a remote forest he was already familiar with.'_

Elizabeth tentatively asked, 'He asked you as well, didn't he?'

Helena sighed, 'I thought he was just a brilliant scholar, he seemed to understand, to sympathise more than the others in whom I saw nothing but greed. But years later when he returned to ask Albus for the teaching post I saw the monster he had become and I followed him, saw him conceal it and realised what he had done.'

'Tom asked for a teaching post? But which position?' said Luna.

It suddenly clicked for Elizabeth, 'Defence against the Dark Arts, that's been cursed since the 60's since just before the first war. Wether intentionally or not, that thing must be the source of the curse which means he hid it somewhere in the castle.'

Helena was impressed, 'The women of your family have always been bright young Potter and Mother would have been most pleased with your reasoning. Yes he hid it, he hid it within the room that has been the repository of this castles hidden items since its beginning.'

Elizabeth remembered Lee telling everyone about hiding his fanged Frisbee after she went to examine the room of requirement.

'…._found this door and when I opened it there was a room full of old junk, centuries worth by the look of it. I hid the Frisbee, only I never did find the door again when I went back to get it. Real shame too as there was loads of cool stuff in there that I wanted to look through.'_

Elizabeth knew it had to end and said, 'it's in there, isn't it? That's why you've been coming here?'

'Indeed, once that abomination is destroyed and he is flung into the deepest circle of hell for all he's done, then I feel that there will be nothing left to hold me here as I will have atoned for all that I am responsible for.'

'Then let's find it and destroy it.'

Elizabeth walked up to the blank stretch of wall before she thought of how she could phrase the request to summon the room, Luna soon suggested.

'Do you have anything on you? Maybe you could ask for a place to hide it?'

'Good idea, I'll try my dagger.'

'_I need a place to hide this dagger, I need a place to hide this dagger, I need a place to hide this dagger…'_

A more utilitarian doorway appeared than the one Elizabeth recognized from the militia meetings, and Elizabeth pushed it open to find a vast room filled with shelves stacked to the ceiling with centuries of assorted contraband. Broken furniture, bottles of potions, books, old broken eggshells, brooms, cauldrons and bloodstained weapons were amongst the items hidden within the space.

'By god, look at all this stuff. It'll take hours to find the thing at best.' Said Elizabeth as she gazed around the lost hoard.

'No, I know where it is, follow me.' Said Helena as she led the way through narrow alleys amongst the shelves for what seemed an age before they finally found the delicate piece lying on top of a wooden crate close to a cupboard that looked to have had acid thrown at its surface. Elizabeth stretched her hand closer to it and immediately felt the darkness she remembered from the other horcruxes she had seen.

Luna looked in awe as she drew closer and whispered.

'The diadem, the lost diadem, it's just as beautiful as daddy said. Oh Lizzie do we really need to destroy it? Can't we just dispel the enchantment?'

Luna slowly stretched forth her hand and Elizabeth felt uneasy as she noticed the minor look of greed in Luna's eyes as at the edge of hearing she could have sworn she could hear a whispering voice promising her the wisdom of the world.

'Luna no, don't listen to it, Tom's corrupted it.'

Helena looked pained as she looked between the two witches and said, 'quickly Potter, destroy it now before it can tempt Luna further.'

Elizabeth drew the dagger from its sheath and held it above the diadem ready to strike.

'Elizabeth, no, have you any idea how long daddy has been searching for that diadem. If you kill it you'll be destroying Rowena's last known possession.'

'Fight him Luna, you know all his promises are lies and all he does is destroy and tear apart, I shall not kill it, Tom already did.'

Luna seemed to shrug off whatever had gripped her and suddenly her eyes changed to show determination.

'Do it Lizzie.'

Elizabeth smiled, 'actually Luna, why don't you? You're a Ravenclaw and Tom committed a crime against the house of the Raven when he stole the diadem and defiled it.'

Elizabeth gave the dagger to Luna who brought the blade down and cut the delicate crown in two, a black mass issuing a moment later only to suddenly fade with an inhuman scream. Luna handed the dagger back and Elizabeth sheathed it as the enormity of what had happened shook them both. Luna shook and suddenly burst into tears.

'Oh Lizzie, I'm so sorry, I almost took it, and I could've…'

Elizabeth smiled sadly as she hugged Luna, 'aaah, but you didn't did you? You fought it off and you even killed it. Yes you destroyed the diadem, but Tom was the one who really ruined it. Besides, it's probably more trouble than it's worth, look what it did in the past.'

Helena actually smiled at the pair of them, 'she's right Luna, that thing drove me to my death, better by far that its power ended today than it ruined yours and your father's lives as well.'

Helena left before Elizabeth picked up the remains of the diadem and gave them to Luna.

'We'd better show this to the headmaster, he'll want to know it's been destroyed.'

Luna still seemed a bit shocked but nodded as Elizabeth led the way up to the headmasters office, after trying a few different sweets ineffectively for a while the staircase finally opened. After being bade to enter, Elizabeth led the way in and greeted the old man behind the desk.

'Sir, it's done, the diadem has been destroyed. Luna and I found it with Lady Helena's help before Luna killed it after resisting its power.'

The headmaster smiled at the pair of them and said, 'do you have it?'

Luna placed the remains on the desk before Professor Dumbledore examined them closely for a time. He finally placed them down before he praised them.

'Outstanding, once again Elizabeth you prove just how exceptional you are, and you Miss Lovegood. You have done a great service to wizardkind and one that will be spoken of for centuries to come. Take 100 points for Ravenclaw and Gryffindor and both of you will receive the Ravenclaw moon.'

Luna was amazed, 'thank you Sir.'

'No Miss Lovegood, thank you. Thanks to you and Elizabeth, we are one step closer to bringing peace to our lands.'

He dismissed the two of them and after he watched the two exceptional young witches leave his office, Albus crossed to his fireplace and activated his connection before he called.

'Severus, can you come up to my office at your earliest convenience.'

Severus soon entered the office and sat down in front of his desk before Albus began.

'Elizabeth and Miss Lovegood have found the diadem and destroyed it.'

Severus was astonished but soon praised, 'Well if anybody could solve the mystery of its whereabouts, they could. But after we find the ring, what then? Shall we go on the offensive? Rarely does that snake leave her masters side and one last battle can end this once and for all.'

'True my friend, however we do not yet know the effect that stone will have on Tom's mind and whether or not his plans will change as a result of his unknowingly swearing allegiance to this dark renegade. Until we know these things any pre-emptive attack would be too much of a risk. At the moment we have a good understanding of our enemy's plans and have our own strategies in place to counter them. But if we strike too hard too soon we risk losing the advantages we presently possess. This is why I will need you to pay very close attention to Tom's state of mind when next he summons you to his side.'

Severus knew that the elderly wizard had a fair point, 'Good point, but the longer we delay the more innocents who will suffer because of this war.'

'A fact I regret every day Severus.'

'If you'll excuse me, I'll return to my duties Headmaster.'

Severus turned and left the office while Albus sighed at the implications of what he had just said.

'Tom, how far you have fallen and yet have I also dammed myself through my own inaction?'

The fifth years entered the Defence classroom a few days later to something of a surprise once Sirius had settled the class down and began to lecture them.

'Alright, now all of you are doing fairly well in your practical use of the spells you have been taught, especially those who have joined the militia. Your accuracy and footwork are also improving but to really get a feel for where you all are at myself and Professor Flitwick have organised a duelling tournament for this afternoon with a prize for the winner. Your matches will be drawn randomly and the winner from each will progress and wins will be awarded by disarm, knockout or submission. But I'm warning you, anybody who uses anything banned will wish they'd never been born. Now does anybody have any questions?'

Several hands went up and Sirius picked Charlotte first.

'Professor, will we be allowed seconds?'

'No Miss McGonagall, these matches are designed to allow you to test your skills and as such the formalities of duelling are not relevant. The death eaters don't bother with any such niceties so you shouldn't either.'

Richard was next, 'Who's going to referee the matches?'

'I will, as will Professor Flitwick, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape.'

Sirius answered a few more questions before he led them down and outside the castle where several grandstands had been set up close to a series of duelling arenas which had been warded to block stray spells. Sirius drew Elizabeth to one side and whispered.

'Princess, you're still a bit too good to give the others a realistic chance so I brought Kingsley along to spar against you once the main tournament is over.'

Elizabeth watched the rest of the class line up and one by one draw their first round opponent's names from a hat that was being held by Professor Snape. She noticed Richard grimace as he read the name on his slip of parchment and asked him who he had gotten.

'Blaise Zaibini, he's pretty good and he knows all the dirty tricks and how to use them.'

Elizabeth had to agree, the Italian Slytherin was one of the more creative of the militia members amongst the number he was training with a vast knowledge of the grey area spells and he had even proven a challenge for her when they had sparred during the meetings.

'Watch his mouth Richard, he seems to have this unusual little grin when he's planning something unexpected,' advised Elizabeth.

Richard agreed before Elizabeth went and checked who her other friends had gotten, most had fair opponents but Elizabeth was a bit worried when she saw who Jane had been unlucky enough to draw.

'Pansy is not going to fight cleanly Lizzie, I can tell.'

Elizabeth could only offer one piece of advice, 'Pansy isn't all that creative Jane, yes she knows her spells, but she's a rotten shot and her attacks are a bit predictable. So be unorthodox, use your surroundings and mind your footwork. Don't worry, you can do it.'

Jane smiled weakly and hugged her before she said. 'Thanks Lizzie.'

Sirius called a few of the combatants to the arenas and told the others to take their seats in the stands and so began the matches. Some were over quickly and others lasted longer, those in the militia on average proving better than those who had not joined. Elizabeth watched as Fitzwilliam took one end of an arena with Theodore Nott at the other. Both waited on the count before Theo immediately went on the offensive with a barrage of stunners which Fitzwilliam immediately had to dodge. Before he responded with a pattern of disarming charms and stunners, two of which Theo had to shield. The fight seesawed back and forth for a while with both seemingly unable to gain an advantage using normal attacks until Fitzwilliam used the illumination charm to dazzle Theo and summoned his wand to win the match. Both seemed perfectly amiable in the aftermath as they took seats near Elizabeth and she praised them both.

'That was great, you both fought really well and until the end it could have gone either way.'

Theo thanked her, 'Thanks Lizzie, don't worry though I'll get your sweet William next time.'

'We'll see about that Nott, just you wait.' William jested.

Elizabeth smiled at the byplay and turned back in time to catch the closing stages of Richards match against Blaise with the Slytherin eventually falling victim to a leg locker curse and then finally an incarcerous spell.

One by one Elizabeth saw her friends fight, all of them doing fairly well with Ron, Hermione, Charles and Charlotte also winning their matches while Neville lost narrowly to Daphne Greengrass. Jane was next and Elizabeth watched feeling slightly fearful as her friend walked into the arena just as Pansy stepped into the other end looking at her opponent with a look of loathing.

Professor Flitwick started the count but Pansy casted her first stunner at the two Jane quickly shielding against it before using her wand to blow the fallen leaves on the ground into Pansy's face and following up with a stunner which dropped the pug faced girl to the ground.

'Match Granger.' Came the squeaky voice of Professor Flitwick.

Pansy had been revived and quickly was on the warpath, 'Granger cheated, you can't blind somebodies face like that.'

'Actually you can,' interrupted Sirius, 'if you're fighting against scum like death eaters you can be assured they won't follow the rules. Besides if anyone cheated here it was you Parkinson, don't think I didn't see your little stunt trying to beat the count, ten points from Slytherin.'

He turned to Jane, 'that was a smooth move using the surroundings to your advantage Miss Granger, take ten points and remember that little trick for next time you fight against people who fight dirty.'

Jane was aglow as she sat down with the others, 'I can't believe I did that.'

Hermione was full of praise for her sister, 'and against Parkinson to boot Jane, you did really well.'

Charles was full of admiration, 'I can't deny I was worried but this only proves who's better out of the pair of you.'

Jane smiled serenely and leant against him as they all watched the last matches of the first round. The next few rounds proceeded the same as the first, as Elizabeth watched as one by one, Jane, Hermione, Charles, Ron, Neville, Fitzwilliam and Charlotte were all eliminated leaving only Richard remaining out of her core group of friends that were participating as the last few matches got underway. Finally the final match was called as a large crowd was gathering to watch with Richard stepping into one end of the arena as Draco Malfoy took the other. Through a combination of grey spells, lucky draws and minor cheating he had won his way to the final and now stood with his usual arrogant sneer in place as he looked at Richard.

'So this is the best that Potter could send, is she too cowardly to face me herself?'

Richard snorted, 'hardly Ferret boy, she'd tear you apart in a matter of seconds and so the good Professor decided to spare you the humiliation.'

There was an enormous 'oooh' from the crowd as Draco sneered, 'I'll take her any time I want, but after I deal with you. Let's get this over with, and prepare to fall Bones as I prove once more the superiority of the chosen ones.'

Sirius interrupted, 'well go on, get on with it then Mr Malfoy, any more blood purity crap and it's detention for the next month and I've got just the task in mind for one of your supposed noble birth.'

Elizabeth could tell whatever it was probably wasn't pleasant and watched as Malfoy got into position as the count began.

'Malfoy begun to swing his wand just as Professor Flitwick began to open his mouth to say 'three' but knowing that his opponent was likely to cheat Richard was ready to dodge the unknown yellow spell that was speeding towards him.

Richard was quickly on the offensive with a pattern of stunners and an impediment jinx that Malfoy was force to clumsily dodge before he fired back with a trip jinx that Richard shielded.

Elizabeth watched impressed as Richard used all the spells she had taught him over the years but conceded that Malfoy was getting better as he got older with his knowledge of borderline dark spells on full display.

Turning to Fitzwilliam she said.

'Malfoy's clearly improved and I have to admit he's a worthy foe.'

Fitzwilliam nodded, 'Richard's doing well though, he'll have to try some new tactics if he's going to win this, can't let Ferret boy win now, not after he's got to the final.'

Both fighters were clearly flagging but it was clear that Malfoy was flagging faster and so Richard began to look for a way to end the fight cleanly, spotting some loose twigs on the ground he transfigured them into several planks of wood and banished them towards Malfoy, one of the planks hitting him in the stomach, winding him. Seeing a chance to finish the duel, Richard landed a disarming charm and sent Malfoy's wand flying.

'The winner!' cried Sirius as he came onto the stage and raised Richard's arm like a boxer as the rest of the crowd minus Draco's cronies cheered in applause. Draco himself stalked off the stage with a look of loathing before Sirius indicated several big crates of butterbeer stacked nearby.

'There you go Lord Bones, share it out with your mates, you've all earned it. Take twenty points to Gryffindor for a well fought duel.'

He praised all the participants for their efforts before he finally pitted Elizabeth against Kingsley Shacklebolt. While Elizabeth had improved considerably since the last time she had fought the highly skilled auror, she only managed to force him to a draw after a lengthy fight which seesawed back and forth for over fifteen minutes.

When Professor Flitwick finally called them to a halt as dinner was drawing near he was quick to praise her.

'You duel well Lady Potter, no doubt in a sustained duel you would have no doubt won by attrition in the end. All the militia members here today have shown remarkable skills for the amount of time they have been preparing and a clear credit to your training.'

'Thanks Professor.'

'A real shame they stopped the international tournaments, you'd make a good competitor with a few years more training. But if you or the militia need more tips you know where to find me and I'd be more than happy to give some demonstrations to your group.'

He waved her off as the class and the spectators dispersed and headed up towards the great hall as the sun began to slowly sink. Dinner was full of exited conversation as everyone shared anecdotes about the days contest.

'One thing's always been constant with Draco, he's a sore loser.' Said Charles

'Did you see the look on his face? He really looked mad,' added Ron.

Everyone laughed.

'That duel you fought against Kingsley was incredible Lizzie, was he going easy on you? You almost had him when Flitwick called time,' asked Hermione.

'No he wasn't, he was fighting as hard as he always has, the only thing neither of us do is use lethal spells and I never shout as that's too dangerous.'

Jane agreed, 'I remember the world cup, those thugs were lucky to survive.'

'You did great against pug face Jane,' said Fred, 'bit more practice and you might have beaten Tracey as well.'

Jane shrugged it off, 'Pansy was arrogant, but Tracey was a good opponent and a challenge, I didn't mind losing to her as she was fair about it. Anyway, I think I prefer the idea of healing more than duelling.'

Charles grinned, 'did you notice that all the militia members made it past the first round except when they had to fight each other?'

'Well we're getting better, at this rate the OWL practical won't be a problem,' said Hermione.

'Only you could worry about an exam in a time of war my dear bookworm, but never change as that's just one of the reasons we love you,' said Fred as he pulled her closer against him.

Charlotte grimaced, 'Ferret's going to be out for blood though, better watch him on the quidditch pitch Lizzie. But you did great out there Richard.'

Richard wasn't concerned, 'let him come, I beat him today and I can do it again and on the field he has never once beaten Lizzie. If he tries anything funny out there Hooch and the whole Gryffindor team would be all over him. A coward like him doesn't fight in the open, when he tries something he'll be doing it on the quiet, just like his precious daddy.'

Neville wasn't so quick to write Malfoy off, 'he didn't go down easily today and he wasn't using the really dark spells. I think he's capable of more than we know, question is what exactly he would be prepared to do when Snake face gives him orders?'

An ominous silence replaced the sniggering from earlier before Ginny broke it.

'He'll surely know he'd have hell to pay if he does anything. If he's here to spy then he'll care about not getting expelled and that limits what he can do, plus the prefects are watching him 24/7.'

'What little sis said,' said George, 'the Ferret's not stupid, that's Crabbe and Goyle. In here he's being watched and out there he's no use to anybody.'

'I hope you're right,' began Elizabeth, 'you never know what a cornered beast might do.'

That night the Gryffindors celebrated yet another victory over a hated rival with Richard sharing his spoils with the rest of the house. While the rest of the house carried on with their revelry Elizabeth slipped upstairs and drew out the stone of Cassandra and gazed into its surface, a vision soon coming to her.

_A quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin was in progress with the lions clearly playing better than their opponents when suddenly a spell shot from amongst the crowd wearing the silver and green and downed a scarlet robed player. A massive riot began with a crowd of Gryffindor players and supporters converging on whoever was responsible….._

Elizabeth was surprised at what she was seeing but conceded that it made a certain sense.

'_While we've got all our eyes on the Ferret, he gets one of his lackeys to start taking pot-shots from the crowd and the sniper gets lucky and hits someone, bloody coward.'_

Heading back downstairs after she put the stone away, Elizabeth drew Fitzwilliam aside and whispered.

'William, can you do me a favour? Next quidditch game, don't watch the Ferret, keep your eyes on the crowd.'

Fitzwilliam looked confused, 'why?'

'Knowing Malfoy, if I were he and wanted to attack someone I'd get one of my cronies to do it from off to the side while my enemies were all watching me for any sign of sudden moves.'

From the look in his eyes Elizabeth could tell he understood as he whispered, 'don't worry my love, we'll have your back.'

Elizabeth beamed, 'I know, now how about a drink? I think we all did a good job today.'


	16. Chapter 16

What a Difference One Chromosome Makes: Part 5

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Occasional bad language, action violence, adult concepts, fluff, spoilers for those who haven't read the books & slightly ooc main characters.

Standard Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling and do not own any of the copyrights to any borrowed characters or locations used in this work and this is not written for profit. All other known characters and locations borrowed in this work belong to their respective copyright owners.

Summary: My take on the Fem Harry scenario with a few unique twists and a tribute to one of the greatest stories ever written.

_Authors Note: Thanks to those readers who have begun reviewing my latest chapters, the tone of response everyone gives proves me a good indication of how well the fic is being received, and what has been working. I've also found that it also improves my motivation to keep writing. Now onto the quidditch game as the plot thickens._

Chapter 16: It's not Cricket

The time before the first quidditch game of the season passed quickly with Angelina soon proving almost as severe a task master as Oliver Wood had been as she began to order daily practices. Her fervour for training in all conditions and at early hours of the day had the twins joking that they should test her for polyjuice potion. Elizabeth wasn't too mad with her captain though, as something with as much anticipation and preparation involved as a good quidditch match would provide everyone with something else to talk about other than the war. For it seemed that during the last half of October, Tom's followers had begun to adopt a more aggressive strategy with several skirmishes having been fought across England and France. Casualties on both sides had been minor but Elizabeth knew that somehow these were just the beginning of a more brutal phase of the war. What had proven somewhat strange however, the subdued mood of Draco and Pansy was enough to raise Elizabeth's brow as she noticed the undercurrent of fear amongst her fellow students. Both were paying little attention to any of the newspaper articles or radio broadcasts whereas even at the start of the current term they would have been gloating at the death and destruction caused to those they considered beneath them. None of the prefects or house elves assigned to follow then had been able to turn up anything unusual and so Elizabeth and the others couldn't do anything. Elizabeth had been feeling quite confident about the team's chances during the lead up to the game as they had never lost a game to Slytherin the whole time she had been playing the sport. The vision she had seen in the stone had been worrying but was far too vague to be an immediate threat and since the end of the previous term had led to the beginnings of a Slytherin/Gryffindor truce. Thus, the lead up to the game had been without most of the usual scuffles which had marred the previous season's.

Elizabeth woke up on the day of the match and walked to the window and opened it, feeling the chill of the approaching Scottish winter brush her face. Scanning the skies, Elizabeth noted the cloud cover and realised that the conditions were shaping up to be fairly good for the days play. Shutting the window, Elizabeth went back to her bed and got dressed and ready. As she got ready, a sense of something feeling wrong seemed to settle on her.

Elizabeth heard a rustle of curtains and the movement of a mattress and saw Charlotte emerge from her bed, despite the sleep in her friends face Charlotte was as perceptive as ever as she whispered.

'Are you alright Lizzie?'

Elizabeth considered what to say, 'I don't know what's up but something just feels, wrong. I've never lost to the Ferret once and annihilated him the last time I played, but I've got a bad feeling about this one.'

Charlotte stepped closer, 'probably just nerves Lizzie, it's a big game today.'

Elizabeth thought for a moment and then replied, 'I'm not so sure, think about it, the Ferret and the Pug should have been trying some kind of scheme after they lost that tournament and yet we've seen and heard nothing. By rights one of them should at least have had a shouting match with Richard or tried to hex Jane, they don't forget slights like that.'

Charlotte seemed to consider Elizabeth's words, 'true, but they must realise we're watching them, maybe that's why neither of them have tried anything.'

'I hope you're right, it isn't like them to just give up.'

Jane joined them and Elizabeth told her of her concerns.

'Be careful out there Lizzie.'

'I will, but Jane if I do get attacked today, make sure that the boys don't go stupid and start a riot. It took a lot of effort to end that stupid feud and the last thing we need is for it to start up again.'

Jane nodded as did Charlotte, both girls looking solemn as they considered the possible consequences of a new gang war between the old rivals.

After Hermione woke up and all the girls were ready, they met the boys and headed downstairs for breakfast. Ron looked worse than Elizabeth felt and as they sat down she said.

'Ron relax, we all know its standard Ferret tactics to try and rile you up, don't give him the satisfaction. Wipe the smug grin off his face the best way you know how, by helping us bury those snakes.'

That cheered him up mildly but he still looked pale as Luna sat down to join him and began a whispered conversation.

Precedent for Hogwarts quidditch games was thrown out completely within a minute however as Draco strode over calmly throwing no insults or curses but instead saying.

'Good luck out there Potter, may the best player win.'

He held out his hand and Elizabeth looked at him suspiciously.

'You're planning something, don't try and deny it Ferret boy.'

Draco merely grinned, 'maybe Potter, but then again maybe not. But let the flyers do the talking, let's settle this once and for all on the quidditch pitch.'

He grabbed her hand and kissed it before walking away calmly as the Gryffindors around her began murmuring in astonishment and Elizabeth rubbed the back of her hand on the tablecloth, glaring at Malfoy's retreating form.

'Who does that slimy git think he is?' Elizabeth huffed as she tried to shake the contamination she felt was on her hand.

Fitzwilliam looked wary, 'I don't trust this supposed show of good sportsmanship.'

'My thoughts exactly my Lokal.'

Richard asked, 'what's the point though? To put you off your game? Surely he knows it'd take a bit more than that. Just then he reminded me more of his dad, that slimy bastard always used to be all ease and friendliness just before his evil plans went into action.'

Fred and George added.

'Well if he tries.'

'To do anything else beyond chat you up.'

'We'll give him what for.'

'Not that he'd be worthy of you even if he suddenly betrayed old snake face.'

Elizabeth smiled at them, 'thanks boys, I appreciate it.'

Angelina bade the team to head for the locker rooms and so Elizabeth got up with the others before bending down and whispering to Fitzwilliam.

'Whatever happens out there, do not let any fools jump into the pulpit and start a riot. The last thing this place needs right now is a so called "Righteous campaign of wholesale Slytherin slaughter".'

Fitzwilliam grimaced at the thought, 'I promise, but just be careful out there my love.'

Elizabeth leant in and kissed him before turning away and following her teammates out of the hall and down to the locker rooms where she and the others donned their team uniforms and waited for Angelina's pre match pep talk.

'Alright then, now I've found out the new line up for the Slytherins. Montague's had to get new beaters since Derrick and Bole left and he's replaced them with the usual gorillas rather than anybody who can fly particularly well. Their names are Crabbe and Goyle and I don't really know much about them.'

'I do,' began Elizabeth, 'Malfoy's toadies, they make your average dumb gang muscle look like Einstein by comparison. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole line up out there is full of the Ferret and the Pug's cronies.'

Angelina looked taken aback, 'well in that case I think we can safely assume that truce or no truce, this match is going to get ugly. Watch yourselves, watch each other's backs and Lizzie, end this before the game has a chance to get too dangerous. I do not want any of you to wind up in the hospital and we don't need too big of a lead on Slytherin as it's the first game.'

The team looked grim as they marched onto the pitch to a chorus of cheers as they got in line facing their opposite numbers. Malfoy looked to have an almost predatory look in his eyes as he gazed at Elizabeth

'Captains shake hands,' ordered Madam Hooch and Elizabeth saw Angelina wince as the Slytherin Captain seemed to try and break her fingers.

'Mount your brooms.. .'

The shrill tone of the whistle shook the still air and sent fourteen players skywards and into the frenzy of the contest.

Lee Jordan was quick off the mark with his usual commentary, 'and its Jonson with the quaffle, what an excellent chaser that girl is. I've been saying it for years and she still won't go out with me.'

'Jordan!' came Professor McGonagall's admonition.

Elizabeth shook her head at their antics, '_The more things change, the more that stay the same.'_

Elizabeth began circling the pitch, glancing here and there for the snitch while occasionally glancing back at Malfoy who appeared to be following her at a distance of about twenty metres.

'She shoots and goaaallll! That's thirty nil to Gryffindor as Katie Bell put's another one through the hoops. Slytherin are really going to have to pick up their game if they want to win this.'

Which was quite true as Elizabeth began to notice the poor performance the Slytherins seemed to be showing.

'_What the heck is going on? They usually play way better than this even if they play dirty half the time.'_

'Ouch, a bludger to the head for Warrington and he drops the quaffle which is snatched up by Spinnet and she's off like a salmon. She dodges a bludger which has got to be one of the worst shots I've ever seen sent by Crabbe. Weaves a rather sloppy tackle by Montague and she shoots and what on earth? He went totally the wrong way! Seriously, did someone pay him to do that? Forty nil to Gryffindor.'

The game continued to grow even more one sided as Slytherin hardly seemed to put any effort in at all. Elizabeth deciding to play fair flew towards Malfoy and asked.

'Malfoy, what on earth are you playing at? Start playing properly you git.'

He just smirked and flew off just as Angelina called for time out, the Gryffindors flew down to the ground and she gather her players close.

'I don't know what they're playing at here, but I swear they're throwing the game. Someone must have been planning on a match fixing scam here.'

Madam Hooch came over to them.

'Ready to resume play?'

Angelina was quick to respond, 'yes we are, but tell that lot to start playing properly as I swear they're throwing this game.'

Madam Hooch was astonished, 'that's a serious accusation Miss Johnson but in this case I agree, I will warn them.'

She walked away and spoke to the Slytherins before she blew her whistle to send the teams back to the air. Elizabeth listened to the angry murmuring from the Gryffindor supporters punctuated by the occasional quip from Lee Jordan as the lead got bigger and bigger until Gryffindor led by 140 to nil.

Finally Elizabeth spotted the snitch heading towards the Slytherin stands and flew after it again thinking that something was wrong as it seemed a lot slower than normal. Just as she was closing on the little gold ball, the Slytherins plans finally came to fruit as she saw out of the corner of her eyes a spread of blue jets of light come out of the stands. She managed to dodge most of them but one clipped her broom and Elizabeth soon felt herself falling to the ground feeling somewhat light headed where she landed with a thud. Groaning in pain, Elizabeth heard the angry roars and saw spellfire flying back and forth before she finally succumbed to the blackness.

Elizabeth came to with a moan as she noticed her sore head and the feeling of cotton sheets covering her body. A quick glance around told her she was in the hospital wing, especially when she noticed the plaque above the bed she was lying in.

_This bed is hereby reserved for the exclusive use of the right honourable Lady Elizabeth Potter OM (1__st__ class)_

Elizabeth heard Madam Pomfrey bustling towards her and listened as the matron began.

'Aaah, you're awake Potter, good. You were very lucky, had that bludgeoning spell hit you directly or had you been much higher up you would have broken bones. You were thrown by the impact and got knocked out when you hit the ground. I've patched you up but I imagine you're feeling a bit sore and lightheaded correct?'

Elizabeth nodded and so was soon dosed with a potion which made her begin to feel a lot better quite quickly.

'How long was I out?'

'A few hours, which is probably just as well. It hasn't been good since you were attacked, but I'll let your friends explain.'

She bustled off and Elizabeth felt her heart sink as she had a fairly good idea of what she was going to hear, sure enough when her friends and teammates gathered around her and Fitzwilliam took her hand and squeezed it the answer she dreaded was soon forthcoming.

'Lizzie, thank heavens you're ok, when I saw you get hit we were all really worried and then Pomfrey wouldn't let us in til now as Dumbledore, Sirius and Snape have been on a rampage all afternoon trying to find who did it.'

Elizabeth held up a finger to his lips before she looked into his eyes and asked.

'When I got hit, what happened next?'

'That idiot Mclaggen shouted "traitors" and then he and all his mates started firing spells at the Slytherin stand, next thing we know the whole pitch is a damn war zone with all the players and spectators fighting each other. Then Dumbledore and the faculty magically dampens the pitch and he starts yelling at everyone before he orders the whole school locked down with us and Slytherin confined to our common rooms while the teachers began investigating what happened.'

Elizabeth cussed to the point where everyone was looking at her in astonishment before she huffed. 'I go back down to the chamber, I find the truth about grandfather and end an idiotic feud that had lasted over a thousand years which has only created and helped the likes of Snake face and now because of a few idiots it's worse than the bad old days. I am going to personally slowly roast the Ferret and the Pug alive if I get my hands on them.'

Everyone winced but Fitzwilliam was quick to try and head her off as he leaned closer, 'Lizzie my love, calm down, take a deep breath, your eyes are shifting. Besides by the time you get out of here Sirius and Professor Snape might have done it for you, I've never seen either of them that angry in my life.'

Hermione added, 'he's right, last thing we heard before we finally got let out of the common room was that Malfoy, Pansy and all of their known cronies are being interrogated. Mclaggen and his friends all got two months detention with Filch.'

Ron looked bitter but had clearly kept his temper as he began, 'I can't believe the Ferret was this crafty, even if they expel him he's gotten what he wants.'

Charles was curious, 'what's that?'

'Cui prodest? Who benefits? The Ferret sabotages the game and gets his mates to attack Lizzie and that provokes the whole house to start a gang war and preach all the old "Slytherins are evil" stuff again. That makes them think we can't be trusted and drives them towards Malfoy, and if they expel him he becomes a martyr for any of the other supremacists.'

Hermione quickly praised, 'that's impressive Ron.'

He shrugged, 'it isn't exactly hard to figure out, it's like chess, it's bad for you if your opponents are lined up in a tight and unified formation. If you want to win the game, you have to break them apart so you can get at the king, even if you have to sacrifice a few pieces.'

'Too true Ronniekins,' commented George.

Jane looked sad as she said, 'I'm sorry Lizzie, we tried to stop them, both on the pitch and then later once we were all back in the common room. We had the militia convinced but Mclaggen is probably still in the common room preaching to the crowd that "they should seek vengeance and drive the corrupt snakes from Gryffindor's halls". They weren't having any of it when I told them you said to not to.'

Elizabeth sighed, 'no Jane you are not to blame, others are culpable, not you.'

Richard said, 'I asked some of the militia to keep an eye on what's going on and let us know so we can figure out what to do, but I reckon Dumbledore's going to have to do something if he wants to put a lid on this as segregation won't work forever.'

Charlotte had been nodding, 'I heard a rumour that it'll be an automatic two week detention and loss of Hogsmeade privilege's for anyone who casts any more hexes after today, but I don't know how accurate it was.'

'Who told you?' asked Elizabeth.

'I saw Henry on the way here, he and Susan would have come but he said that the teachers are deploying the neutral prefects to keep an eye on both houses.'

Sirius came into the ward not long afterwards with an angry look on his face which softened as he saw Elizabeth.

'Princess, thank goodness you're alright.'

He swept down on her and pulled her into a hug for a long moment before he sat down and said.

'You had me worried when I saw you get hit. How are you? Did Poppy check you over?'

'I'm a bit stiff and sore but it looks like I'll live,' assured Lizzie. 'But what's going on out there? Looks like the truce has been shot to pieces thanks to the Pug and the Ferret.'

Sirius shook his head, the look on his face clearly showing disgust, 'There's a law on our books which says that we can't use legillimency or veritaserum on minors which in this case is really annoying. We checked all the wands of the Slytherins who were sitting near where the spells came from and none were responsible for the spells that were sent. However, we were able to figure out the plan. The snitch had been replaced with a fake one which was programmed to appear and fly to just near the Slytherin stands when the lead reached 140 to nil in Gryffindor's favour.'

Everyone gasped and Elizabeth asked, 'so the whole game was a setup to get me in the right place for the sniper to take the shot, and then all the red blooded Gryffindors see me attacked my Slytherins and start up the feud again?'

Angelina shook her head, 'I've never seen the snakes play that badly, but I couldn't believe my eyes when those spells came out of nowhere.'

Sirius nodded gravely, 'yep, that about sums it up. So based on the evidence we were able to get them for match fixing which will see them all banned from quidditch teams for the rest of their time at Hogwarts. However the Ferret and the Pug both walk away for lack of evidence linking them to the greater crime.'

'Damn it,' said Charles, 'just when things between the Slytherins and us begin to grow less hostile and almost friendly, Malfoy and Parkinson manage to ruin it.'

Sirius sighed, 'we gave them both a pretty stern warning but we could tell they were laughing at us the whole time. I could see Albus's points when he explained why he let them come back this year. But sometimes I wonder if it would have been better to expel them as a precaution for the rest of you.'

Hermione shook her head, 'no Sirius, think of the precedent that would set. While the Ferret and the Pug are both dangerous, there's a few supremacists who are more bark than real bite and they'd get tarred with the same brush and as a result become real death eaters when we could have reformed them. We'd end up alienating all the conservative families when we need them on side just as much as the liberals.'

Fred was grinning as Hermione spoke and when she fell silent added, 'I wouldn't try and debate her on this one Paddy. In here we can watch them and prank them if we have to, out there they're both loose cannons.'

Ron looked confused for a moment before Luna whispered to him.

Sirius harrumphed, 'true, but the next time the Ferret tries anything I'm writing to Cissy to get permission to use veritaserum.'

Ron was quick to ask, 'can't you do it this time?'

Sirius shook his head, 'no, because he wasn't actively involved in the attack. Since he was playing the game at the time, officially he's not a suspect even though unofficially we know he's in this up to his neck.'

Jane asked Sirius, 'what's going to happen now? We've been hearing all sorts of rumours.'

Sirius explained, 'well, for the next few days, the timetables will be shifted to keep the Slytherins and Gryffindors apart as much as possible. Dumbledore's going to make a big speech tonight to try and calm things down, but somehow I think we'll need something a bit bigger than that.'

Neville came into the ward and joined them and after Elizabeth had greeted him, she began to have an idea.

'_I wonder, what two warring parties would think of something so inspiring, so simply wonderful that it could bring a halt to their differences?'_

Sirius checked his watch and then said.

'I have to go Princess, don't worry, I'll have your broom patched up and ready for the next game. I figure I'm still a few birthdays and Christmas's behind.'

He bent down and kissed her forehead before he left the ward and Elizabeth said to the others.

'He ought to send the bill to Pansy's family.'

That made most of them laugh before Madam Pomfrey came and shooed them all out claiming that Elizabeth needed her rest. The school matron ended up keeping Elizabeth in overnight much to her annoyance as she wanted to make a start on her plan. When she was finally let out the next morning after breakfast, Elizabeth hurried up to the tower and fetched her invisibility cloak before making her way to the dungeons and knocking on Professor Snape's door.

After being bade to enter Elizabeth sat down and took off her cloak as he greeted her.

'Elizabeth, I'm glad to see you up and about. I can't deny I was concerned after what happened. Now how can I help you?'

Elizabeth was quick to explain, 'we need to find a way to nip this feud in the bud. I will not let the Ferret and The Pug undo so much of all our hard work. Grandfather would be most upset if I didn't try something to fix this mess we find ourselves in.'

'Yes, that is a worthy ambition indeed. I can't stand this anymore than you and when I tried to talk some sense into them last night I fear few beyond those in the militia were listening. But what is your plan?'

'What if we were to create something so wonderful that it would give the whole school a pleasant topic of conversation? You know it's Christmas soon sir, and the right kind of good news at Christmas might just make all the difference.'

Professor Snape looked intrigued, 'perhaps, but what exactly do you have in mind?'

'Has anybody ever studied the effects of combining phoenix tears with healing potions sir?'

Professor Snape shook his head, 'no I'm afraid not, there are simply too few phoenixes in the world for such an experiment to be conducted, and even if there were. Phoenixes do not simply gift their tears on command, they will only ever shed them for those they deem worthy when they find them.'

Elizabeth smiled, 'then it's a good thing I have an endless supply.'

Professor Snape seemed to catch on, 'oh now I see, yes, it could work but I would need to be very careful as your tears will be far more potent than a normal phoenixes. But what healing potion did you want to run the experiment on?'

'The post Cruciatus restoration potion.'

The shock was clear on Professor Snape's face, 'now I see what you're planning, if that works it would prove a miracle of modern healing. Alright I'll do it, by all the gods I promise I'll do my best to bring this about. But before I can begin, I'll need some tears.'

Elizabeth smiled at him before she shifted into her phoenix form and flew up onto his desk while he found an empty crystal phial. Leaning her head over the phial, Elizabeth concentrated and felt the teardrops leave her eyes to splash into the phial.

After Elizabeth had shed a good supply Professor Snape stoppered the vial ad said, 'alright, that should be enough to begin some experiments, but I can only pray that this works. As we'll only have the one chance at this. I'll barely have enough time to brew enough batches of the potion in time to be able to properly test the hypothesis at the different stages of brewing.'

Once Elizabeth turned back into herself she said, 'can I please ask you to keep this a secret sir? I don't want to build his hopes only to dash them by the experiments failure.'

'Of course, you may depend on my discretion, I will of course have to inform the headmaster as I must regularly report my brewing activities to him under the school charter. I will also inform Aurora as she will be curious as to my changed activities as brewing even the normal potion is a very delicate process.'

'No that's perfectly fine, I just don't want to hurt him or the others, especially Lady Augusta as I know she wants me as a niece in law.'

Professor Snape smiled, 'you have a good heart Elizabeth, it's no wonder Augusta would approve of the match. Now run along, it's probably best if you avoid the dungeons outside potions class as much as possible for the time being. But I will let you know how our project is progressing when I can.'

Elizabeth smiled at him before throwing the cloak back over herself and leaving before hurrying up to meet the others in the common room, Ron was quick to ask.

'I heard Pomfrey let you out a while ago, where have you been?'

'I just had a small errand to run, but right now we need to find out what game the Ferret and the Pug are playing because it's quite clear, it's not cricket.'

Ron looked confused but Jane said.

'You've got something planned Lizzie, I know you and I know you wouldn't let something like this stand.'


End file.
